logging

logging — noun

1. the work of felling trees in a forest and preparing the wood to be sold or used

1.nounB2
Definition

the work of felling trees in a forest and preparing the wood to be sold or used in building and manufacturing

Example

Adina works in logging and spends most days in the forest.

The logging industry supplies wood that is used to build homes and make paper.

collocation: logging industry

Common collocations
  • illegal logging
  • logging operation
  • logging equipment
  • logging road
  • logging truck
  • selective logging
  • clear-cut logging
Synonyms
  • timber industry

    focuses on the business and commercial side rather than the physical activity

  • forestry

    broader field that includes planting, managing, and protecting forests, not just cutting

  • lumber industry

    more common in American English; emphasises the processing stage rather than the tree-felling itself

Usage Note

Uncountable noun — do not say 'a logging' or 'loggings'. 'Logging' refers to the industry as a whole, not to cutting down a single tree. The related countable noun 'log' means a piece of cut wood.

Common Mistakes

The company does logging and loggings in the north.
The company does logging in the north.
'logging' is uncountable and has no plural form.
He works for a logging.
He works for a logging company.
'logging' alone cannot follow an article; use it as a modifier or uncountable noun.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Logging' refers specifically to the physical activity of cutting down trees and moving the wood out of the forest. 'Forestry' is a much broader field that includes planting, managing, protecting, and studying forests — it is an academic and environmental profession, not just tree-felling. 'Timber industry' and 'lumber industry' both describe the commercial business that buys and processes wood, but 'lumber industry' is the preferred term in American English and often includes sawmills and wood-treatment plants alongside the cutting. Example: 'She studied forestry at university, but her first job was in logging.'

logging ↗forestry ↗timber industrylumber industry

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • illegal logging
  • selective logging
  • clear-cut logging
  • logging and deforestation

Prepositions

  • in logging
  • from logging

Etymology

Old NorseMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Logging' comes from the noun 'log' (a cut piece of a tree) combined with the suffix '-ing', which turns the idea of cutting logs into the name of the whole activity. The origin of 'log' is uncertain, but it probably came from Old Norse 'lag' (a felled tree). By the 1800s, 'logging' was used in North America to describe the growing industry of cutting forests for timber.