What does "timberline" mean?

The height or limit beyond which trees do not grow in mountainous or Arctic regions.

What is a synonym for "timberline"?

Common synonyms include: tree line, timber line, timber line.

Pronounced //ˈtɪmbɚˌlaɪn//.

//ˈtɪmbɚˌlaɪn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The height or limit beyond which trees do not grow in mountainous or Arctic regions.
"Most flocks in the Sierra and the Rocky Mountains live above the timber-line and at an altitude of twelve thousand feet."
2
line marking the upper limit of tree growth in mountains or northern latitudes wordnet

"Most flocks in the Sierra and the Rocky Mountains live above the timber-line and at an altitude of twelve thousand feet."

From timber + line.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.