Meaning & use
lumber mill
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Meanings
nouncountable
A factory where logs are cut into boards and other pieces of wood for building or furniture.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a lumber mill' or 'three lumber mills'.
Patterns
- work at a lumber mill
- a lumber mill produces something
- send logs to a lumber mill
The old lumber mill by the river closed last year, and now the building is empty.
They took the fallen trees to a lumber mill to be cut into boards.
My uncle worked at a lumber mill for twenty years, cutting huge logs into planks.
nouncountable
The business or company that operates such a factory.
Grammar: Countable and often used with company names: 'the Wilson Lumber Mill'.
Patterns
- own a lumber mill
- invest in a lumber mill
He owns a small lumber mill that supplies wood to local builders.
The family has run a lumber mill in this town for three generations.
Word forms
| plural | lumber mills |
|---|
Common combinations
- sawmill
- In British English, you would usually say 'sawmill' instead of 'lumber mill'.
- timber mill
- A timber mill is similar, but often refers to a place that cuts timber rather than finished lumber.
- lumber yard
- The lumber yard sells the wood that comes from the lumber mill.
- log
- Trucks bring logs to the lumber mill every morning.
- sawdust
- The air around the lumber mill smelled of sawdust.
- plank
- The lumber mill produces planks of different sizes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sawmill
- The usual British word for the same place; in American English 'sawmill' is also used but 'lumber mill' is more specific to cutting logs into lumber.
- timber mill
- Similar, but often suggests a mill that processes rough timber rather than finished boards.
Word family
- lumber noun
- Wood that has been cut into boards, especially in American English.
- lumberjack noun
- A person whose job is to cut down trees or work in a lumber camp.
Commonly confused: lumber mill or lumber room?
lumber mill vs lumber room
A 'lumber room' is an old-fashioned British term for a room where you store unused furniture; it has nothing to do with cutting wood.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'lumber mill' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A lumber mill is a place where logs are cut into boards, so taking logs there fits. The other options confuse it with a store or a tree.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lumber mill”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.