loaf

¹ American  

[lohf] / loʊf /

noun

loaves plural

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)

loafs, present (3rd person singular) loafed, past participle, past loafing present participle

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)

loafs, present (3rd person singular) loafed, past participle, past loafing present participle

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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Synonym Usage

See lounge.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unloafing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• loaves
  plural

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has loafed
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have loafed
  perfect
• is loafing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am loafing
  progressive 1st person singular
• are loafing
  progressive
• loafs
  singular 3rd person
• have been loafing
  perfect progressive
• loafing
  participle
• has been loafing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular

Past

• had loafed
  perfect
• was loafing
  progressive singular
• had been loafing
  perfect progressive
• loafed
  simple
• were loafing
  progressive plural
• loafed
  participle

Future

• will loaf
  simple
• will have loafed
  perfect
• will be loafing
  progressive
• will have been loafing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

Arthur Bryant’s has my favorite ribs, and when you order, they bring out a whole loaf of Wonder Bread, which is still very novel and exciting to me.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

So they tried to make a sourdough loaf.

From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026

I was also parmesan-less, so I pivoted toward other salty pleasures instead: crushed bacon and a pan of toasted breadcrumbs made from the heel of a sourdough loaf.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

“It shows up two or three weeks later in the price of every box that moved on a truck, every loaf of bread, every package delivered.”

From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026

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 "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Related Words

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