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to lumber

to lumber

18 4.6
To move slowly with heavy awkward steps
  • verb
  • /ˈlʌmbər/
translation icon : avanzar pesadamente
  • The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, by comparison, lumbered along at nearly 200 miles per hour.
  • lumber past

Examples

  • Mama bear, about 50 feet behind me, lumbering out of the forest and onto the gravel road.

    Academic text (2001)
  • As she caught sight of the wagon lumbering behind them, two things struck her.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The most famous helicopter in the world lumbers toward the most famous house.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Up ahead, the truck was still coming, lumbering across the flats toward him.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I turned, too, and saw the mail Jeep lumbering up the drive.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Finally, close to midnight, Rogoff came out of the house and lumbered over to the Lexus.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • And the herd lumbered south across the Alaskan hinterland...

  • You are aboard a U.S. Navy LC-130 Hercules transport plane lumbering its way to Antarctica.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In this film, the mother is a full-bodied matriarch who lumbers slowly through quiet interiors.

    Academic text (2013)
  • The elephant lumbered across the field, drawing everyone's attention with its massive size.

Synonyms

to pound
vsto lumber
11 3.1

To walk with heavy noisy steps that make a loud sound

is heavy and awkward but less forceful or repeated
to stump
vsto lumber
2 5.9

To walk with heavy noisy steps that show effort or anger

is more slow and awkward rather than forceful or loud

Antonyms

89 2.9

To move smoothly and without effort through the air or over a surface

46 1.0

To run very fast for a short distance

Phrasal Verbs

To move slowly and awkwardly while carrying something heavy

Compounds

3.9

A short warm plaid wool jacket for outdoor work and casual wear

lumber room
  • Archaic
7.9

A room where people keep old or unused furniture and boxes

Wood that has a smooth, shiny surface and is ready for building or making furniture

How Heavy

to stomp
144 2.9
to lumber
18 4.6
to trudge
21 5.5
to shuffle
45 3.8
to walk
1.0
to stroll
122 1.8

Surface Forms

lumber infinitive
lumbered past
lumbered past participle
lumbering present participle
lumbers third person singular

Etymology

Lumber (to move slowly) comes from the idea of being weighed down by heavy wood or goods: when someone carries or is burdened by lumber, they 'lumber' along, meaning 'to move slowly and awkwardly'.