loaf

¹ American  

[lohf] / loʊf /

noun

plural

loaves

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. British.

   1. the rounded head of a cabbage, lettuce, etc.

   2. Slang: Older Use. head or brains.

      Use your loaf.

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loaf ² American  

[lohf] / loʊf /

verb (used without object)

1. to idle away time.

   He figured the mall was as good a place as any for loafing.

2. to lounge or saunter lazily and idly.

   We loafed for hours along the water's edge.

   Synonyms:

   idle, loll

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verb (used with object)

1. to pass idly (usually followed byaway ).

   to loaf one's life away.

loaf ¹ British  

/ ləʊf /

noun

1. a shaped mass of baked bread

2. any shaped or moulded mass of food, such as cooked meat

3. slang the head; sense

   use your loaf!

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loaf ² British  

/ ləʊf /

verb

1. (intr) to loiter or lounge around in an idle way

2. to spend (time) idly

   he loafed away his life

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loaf Idioms  

1. see half a loaf is better than none.

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Related Words

See lounge.

Other Word Forms

• unloafing adjective

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

Example Sentences

“That’s true, she could, but she’s not here right now, is she? All I can see here is a skinny little runt, a daydreaming daffodil, and a giant loaf of bread.”

From Literature

The friend who brings a loaf of bread and a good stick of butter.

From Salon

Reaching in, past a pile of apples and a wrapped loaf of Mrs. Wigginbottom’s Indian cornbread, I felt around until I touched the soft material of what must have been a gown of some sort.

From Literature

"We used five loaves of bread, chicken drumsticks, pasta, apples, crackers - anything we could get our hands on for them to eat," Ridgeon said.

From BBC

Retired professor Ted Porter, for instance, recalls buying a loaf of his late wife’s favorite bread when the winds first started, thinking he may need something to nibble on if the power went out.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bun
• cake
• cube
• dough
• pastry
• slab