lumber

Compared meaning: wood used for building (noun).

比较义项：建筑用木材（名词）。

• timber

  General, mainly British English term for building wood; can also refer to trees or logs before they are cut, not necessarily already prepared as boards.

  英式英语中常用的泛指建筑用木材的词，也可以指尚未加工成木板的树木或原木，不一定是已经切割好的。

  Loggers felled the timber and hauled the logs to the sawmill.

  伐木工人砍伐了木材，并把原木运到锯木厂。

• lumber 本词

  American English term for wood that has already been sawn and prepared into boards or planks, ready for construction; not used for standing trees.

  美式英语中指已经锯切、加工成木板或木条、可直接用于建筑的木材，不用来指尚未砍伐的树木。

  At the hardware store, he picked up lumber for the new deck.

  他在五金店买了木材，用来建造新的户外露台。

Timber and lumber both mean wood used for building. Timber is the mainly British, general term; it can also mean standing trees or logs before they are cut. Lumber is the American English term for wood already sawn and prepared into boards, ready for construction.

这两个词都指建筑用的木材，意思相近，但用法和地域偏好不同：timber 是英式英语更常用的泛称，也可以指尚未加工成木板的树木或原木；lumber 是美式英语更常用的词，特指已经锯切、加工好、可直接使用的木材。这里不比较 lumber 在英式英语中表示“杂物、废旧家具”的意思，也不涉及 lumber 作动词表示“笨拙地移动”的意思。

Compared meaning: to cut down trees (verb).

比较义项：伐木（动词）。

• log

  Means to cut down trees, especially as an industry or activity; often used without stating the purpose, and commonly appears as the related noun 'logging' for the trade itself.

  意为砍伐树木，尤指作为一种行业或活动；常在不说明目的的情况下使用，也常以相关名词logging（伐木业）表示这一行当本身。

  Companies have logged this valley for over a century, leaving the hillsides bare.

  一个多世纪以来，各家公司一直在这个山谷伐木，使山坡变得光秃秃的。

• lumber 本词

  Means to cut down trees specifically to obtain timber for building or manufacturing; ties the act of felling to producing usable wood, common in North American English.

  特指为获取建筑或制造用的木材而砍伐树木；把伐木这一行为与生产可用木材联系起来，在北美英语中较常用。

  His grandfather lumbered these woods in the 1940s to supply the local sawmill.

  他祖父在20世纪40年代在这片林地伐木，为当地的锯木厂供应原料。

Log and lumber both can mean to cut down trees. Log means to fell trees, often as an industry, without stating the purpose; the noun 'logging' names the trade itself. Lumber means to cut trees to get timber for building, common in North American English.

两词在“砍伐树木”这一意义上相近，但log强调把树砍倒（常指整体伐木活动或作名词指原木），而lumber更强调为取得木材而砍伐、加工树木，带有明确的木材用途。这里不比较log作名词“日志、记录”或动词“记录”的意思，也不比较lumber作名词“木材”或“笨重地移动”的意思。