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

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

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

“Saviors” revisits the production approach of the so-called “loudness war” of the 1990s and 2000s, when it seemed studios sought to make, as Meat Loaf sang, “everything louder than everything else.”

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024

He impressed classmates—one of whom was Lauro Müller—when he climbed Sugar Loaf mountain, scaling it with only a rope.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

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