loaf
1 Americannoun
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a portion of bread or cake baked in a shaped or molded mass, usually oblong with a rounded top.
I try to keep a loaf of sliced bread in the freezer.
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a shaped or molded mass of food, as of ground meat or vegetables.
The loaf is made with lentils and vegetables, and you can see the colorful bits of bell peppers speckled through it.
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British.
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the rounded head of a cabbage, lettuce, etc.
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Slang: Older Use. head or brains.
Use your loaf.
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verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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a shaped mass of baked bread
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any shaped or moulded mass of food, such as cooked meat
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slang the head; sense
use your loaf!
verb
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(intr) to loiter or lounge around in an idle way
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to spend (time) idly
he loafed away his life
Synonym Usage
See lounge.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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loafsimple
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loafssimple
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have loafedperfect
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has loafedperfect
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am loafingprogressive
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are loafingprogressive
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is loafingprogressive
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have been loafingperfect progressive
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has been loafingperfect progressive
Past
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loafedsimple
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had loafedperfect
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was loafingprogressive
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were loafingprogressive
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had been loafingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loaf1
First recorded before 950; Middle English lo(o)f, Old English hlāf “loaf, bread”; cognate with German Laib, Old Norse hleifr, Gothic hlaifs
Origin of loaf2
An Americanism first recorded in 1825–35; back formation from loafer
Explanation
A loaf is a delicious mass of bread. The kitchen smells great — it must be time to pull that loaf of sourdough out of the oven! If you're a lazy lover of baked goods, your dream vacation might look like this: the chance to loaf around eating one fresh-baked loaf of bread after another. The verb loaf means "laze around doing nothing," but its origin remains a mystery to word experts — although you might look like a bit like a loaf of bread when you loaf on the sofa covered in blankets.
Vocabulary lists containing loaf
"Mending Wall," by Robert Frost
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A Toast to Bread
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The House of the Scorpion
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Smith later met fans in HMV, where he signed albums ahead of a launch party at The Sugar Loaf pub.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Ms. Greenspan found her recipe for Mix-It-Up Citrus Loaf Cake at L’Agrumiste, an all-things-citrus boutique in Paris.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
In 1981, Curry hosted “Saturday Night Live” and appeared with Meat Loaf in a skit that had the actors selling “Rocky Horror” memorabilia.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025
I have to credit Chef Ileene for creating our famous Seeded Parker House Loaf, which was initially a trial and has now become a beloved staple on the menu and something we can’t change.
From Salon • Nov. 13, 2024
I altered my avatar’s appearance so that I looked exactly like Meat Loaf did in the role, but my performance and lip-synching still kinda sucked.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
