What is "timber mare"

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.