What is "timber hitch"

Timber \Tim"ber\, n. [AS. timbor, timber, wood, building; akin to OFries. timber, D. timmer a room, G. zimmer, OHG. zimbar timber, a dwelling, room, Icel. timbr timber, Sw. timmer, Dan. t["o]mmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. ? house, ? to build, Skr. dama a house.

1. That sort of wood which is proper for buildings or for tools, utensils, furniture, carriages, fences, ships, and the like; -- usually said of felled trees, but sometimes of those standing. Cf. Lumber, 3.

   And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled in the timber!
   --Tennyson.

2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.

3. Fig.: Material for any structure.

   Such dispositions are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make politics of.
   --Bacon.

4. A single piece or squared stick of wood intended for building, or already framed; collectively, the larger pieces or sticks of wood, forming the framework of a house, ship, or other structure, in distinction from the covering or boarding.

   So they prepared timber . . . to build the house.
   --1 Kings v. 18.

   Many of the timbers were decayed.
   --W. Coxe.

5. Woods or forest; wooden land. [Western U. S.]

6. (Shipbuilding) A rib, or a curving piece of wood, branching outward from the keel and bending upward in a vertical direction. One timber is composed of several pieces united.

   Timber and room. (Shipbuilding) Same as Room and space. See under Room.

   Timber beetle (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of beetles the larv[ae] of which bore in timber; as, the silky timber beetle ( Lymexylon sericeum).

   Timber doodle (Zo["o]l.), the American woodcock. [Local, U. S.]

   Timber grouse (Zo["o]l.), any species of grouse that inhabits woods, as the ruffed grouse and spruce partridge; -- distinguished from prairie grouse.

   Timber hitch (Naut.), a kind of hitch used for temporarily marking fast a rope to a spar. See Illust. under Hitch.

   Timber mare, a kind of instrument upon which soldiers were formerly compelled to ride for punishment.
   --Johnson.

   Timber scribe, a metal tool or pointed instrument for marking timber.
   --Simmonds.

   Timber sow. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Timber worm, below.
   --Bacon.

   Timber tree, a tree suitable for timber.

   Timber worm (Zo["o]l.), any larval insect which burrows in timber.

   Timber yard, a yard or place where timber is deposited.

n. a multiple hitch knot used to attach a line or rope to a spar where diagonal strain, or towing, is required

n. a hitch used to secure a rope to a log or spar; often supplemented by a half hitch

The timber hitch is a knot used to attach a single length of rope to a cylindrical object. Secure while tension is maintained, it is easily untied even after heavy loading.

The timber hitch is an old knot. It is first known to have been mentioned in a nautical source c. 1625 and illustrated in 1762.