tim|bered /t I mbə r d/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A timbered building has a wooden frame or wooden beams showing on the outside.
2 → see also half-timbered
ti m|ber yard (timber yards ) N‑COUNT A timber yard is a place where timber is stored and sold. [BRIT ] in AM, use lumberyard
tim|bre /tæ mbə r / (timbres ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] The timbre of someone's voice or of a musical instrument is the particular quality of sound that it has. [FORMAL ] □ His voice had a deep timbre. □ [+ of ] The timbre of the violin is far richer than that of the mouth organ.
time ◆◆◆ /ta I m/ (times , timing , timed )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Time is what we measure in minutes, hours, days, and years. □ …a two-week period of time. □ Time passed, and still Ma did not appear. □ The social significance of religion has changed over time.
2 N‑SING [wh/the N ] You use time to ask or talk about a specific point in the day, which can be stated in hours and minutes and is shown on clocks. □ 'What time is it?'—'Eight o'clock.' □ He asked me the time. □ What time did he leave? □ The time is now 19 minutes past the hour.
3 N‑COUNT The time when something happens is the point in the day when it happens or is supposed to happen. □ Departure times are 08:15 from St Quay, and 18:15 from St Helier.
4 → see also opening time
5 N‑UNCOUNT You use time to refer to the system of expressing time and counting hours that is used in a particular part of the world. □ The incident happened just after ten o'clock local time.
6 N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] You use time to refer to the period that you spend doing something or when something has been happening. □ Adam spent a lot of time in his grandfather's office. □ He wouldn't have the time or money to take care of me. □ Listen to me, I haven't got much time. □ The route was blocked for some time. □ For a long time I didn't tell anyone. □ A short time later they sat down to eat.
7 N‑SING If you say that something has been happening for a time , you mean that it has been happening for a fairly long period of time. □ He stayed for quite a time. □ After a time they came to a pond.
8 N‑COUNT [oft prep N ] You use time to refer to a period of time or a point in time, when you are describing what is happening then. For example, if something happened at a particular time , that is when it happened. If it happens at all times , it always happens. □ We were in the same college, which was male-only at that time. □ By this time he was thirty. □ It was a time of terrible uncertainty. □ Homes are more affordable than at any time in the past five years. □ It seemed like a good time to tell her.
9 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] You use time or times to talk about a particular period in history or in your life. □ We'll be alone together, quite like old times. □ We are in one of the most severe recessions in modern times.
10 N‑PLURAL You can use the times to refer to the present time and to modern fashions, tastes, and developments. For example, if you say that someone keeps up with the times , you mean they are fashionable or aware of modern developments. If you say they are behind the times , you mean they are unfashionable or not aware of them. □ This approach is now seriously out of step with the times. □ Johnny has changed his image to fit the times.
11 N‑COUNT [adj N ] When you describe the time that you had on a particular occasion or during a particular part of your life, you are describing the sort of experience that you had then. □ Sarah and I had a great time while the kids were away. □ She's had a really tough time the last year and a half.
12 N‑SING Your time is the amount of time that you have to live, or to do a particular thing. □ The hunt for a solution is on, and time is running out.
13 N‑UNCOUNT [N to-inf, N that] If you say it is time for something, time to do something, or time you did something, you mean that this thing ought to happen or be done now. □ [+ for ] Opinion polls indicated a feeling among the public that it was time for a change. □ [+ for ] It was time for him to go to work. □ This was no time to make a speech.
14 N‑COUNT When you talk about a time when something happens, you are referring to a specific occasion when it happens. □ Every time she travels on the bus, it's delayed by at least three hours. □ The last time I saw her was about sixteen years ago.
15 N‑COUNT You use time after numbers to say how often something happens. □ It was her job to make tea three times a day.
16 N‑PLURAL You use times after numbers when comparing one thing to another and saying, for example, how much bigger, smaller, better, or worse it is. □ Its profits are rising four times faster than the average company. □ …an area five times the size of Britain.
17 CONJ You use times in arithmetic to link numbers or amounts that are multiplied together to reach a total. □ Four times six is 24.
18 N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Someone's time in a race is the amount of time it takes them to finish the race. □ He was over a second faster than his previous best time. [Also + of ]
19 N‑UNCOUNT [oft in N ] The time of a piece of music is the number of beats that the piece has in each bar. □ A reel is in four-four time, and a jig is in six-eight time.