timber

Compared meaning: wood used for building (noun).

比较义项：建筑用木材（名词）。

• timber 本词

  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

  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。