loft

American  

[lawft, loft] / lɔft, lɒft /

noun

• lofts
  plural

1. a room, storage area, or the like within a sloping roof; attic; garret.

2. a gallery or upper level in a church, hall, etc., designed for a special purpose.

   a choir loft.

3. a hayloft.

4. an upper story of a business building, warehouse, or factory, typically consisting of open, unpartitioned floor area.

5. such an upper story converted or adapted to any of various uses, as quarters for living, studios for artists or dancers, exhibition galleries, or theater space.

6. Also called loft bed.  a balcony or platform built over a living area and used especially for sleeping.

7. Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. an attic.

8. Golf.

   1. the slope of the face of the head of a club backward from the vertical, tending to drive the ball upward.

   2. the act of lofting.

   3. a lofting stroke.

9. the resiliency of fabric or yarn, especially wool.

10. the thickness of a fabric or of insulation used in a garment, as a down-filled jacket.

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verb (used with object)

• lofts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lofted,
  past participle,  past
• lofting
  present participle

1. to hit or throw aloft.

   He lofted a fly ball into center field.

2. Golf.

   1. to slant the face of (a club).

   2. to hit (a golf ball) into the air or over an obstacle.

   3. to clear (an obstacle) in this manner.

3. to store in a loft.

4. Shipbuilding. to form or describe (the lines of a hull) at full size, as in a mold loft; lay off.

5. Archaic. to provide (a house, barn, etc.) with a loft.

verb (used without object)

• lofts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lofted,
  past participle,  past
• lofting
  present participle

1. to hit or throw something aloft, especially a ball.

2. to go high into the air when hit, as a ball.

loft British  

/ lɒft /

noun

1. the space inside a roof

2. a gallery, esp one for the choir in a church

3. a room over a stable used to store hay

4. an upper storey of a warehouse or factory, esp when converted into living space

5. a raised house or coop in which pigeons are kept

6. sport

   1. (in golf) the angle from the vertical made by the club face to give elevation to a ball

   2. elevation imparted to a ball

   3. a lofting stroke or shot

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verb

1. sport to strike or kick (a ball) high in the air

2. to store or place in a loft

3. to lay out a full-scale working drawing of (the lines of a vessel's hull)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underloft
  noun
• loftless
  adjective
• well-lofted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lofts
  plural

Participles

• lofting
  present
• lofted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• loft
  simple
• lofts
  simple
• have lofted
  perfect
• has lofted
  perfect
• am lofting
  progressive
• are lofting
  progressive
• is lofting
  progressive
• have been lofting
  perfect progressive
• has been lofting
  perfect progressive

Past

• lofted
  simple
• had lofted
  perfect
• was lofting
  progressive
• were lofting
  progressive
• had been lofting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will loft
  simple
• will have lofted
  perfect
• will be lofting
  progressive
• will have been lofting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of loft

before 1000; Middle English lofte (noun), late Old English loft < Old Norse lopt upper chamber or region, the air, sky. See lift

Explanation

When you loft something, you throw it high into the air, the way a baseball player might loft a ball from the outfield all the way to first base. Any way you propel an object — whether you throw, kick, or slingshot it — if it launches up and across a distance, you loft it. Another kind of loft is the large, open space above a warehouse or shop in which people live or work. Artists are particularly well known for having apartments or studios in lofts. This is closest to the word's original meaning, "an upper chamber," from the Old English loft, which means "the sky."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loft lofts lofted lofting

The only downside of Evan Rugen’s East Village loft is the yearslong feud with his neighbors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Co-founders and partners Lena Martin and Mandolin Burns graduated from CalArts, and in their search for a place to live, they found a loft in the Arts District where they could potentially perform.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

One of the photographs shows a Dyson SV12 vacuum valued at £499.99, found in what appears to be the loft of the Glasgow home.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

They picked up a 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom loft in 2006 for $1.3 million.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026

Miig and Wab made Minerva a nice bed that night, using two donated sleeping bags from the contented kids in the loft.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

The 20 satellites, dubbed “V3” devices by the company, are designed to handle much more data than the satellites SpaceX currently lofts to orbit using its Falcon 9 fleet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Davis took this approach in the three-story atrium of his Calle del Sierra Residence in Stinson Beach, which is visually connected on all levels, showcasing exposed timber trusses and open lofts reachable via intricate ladders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025

But fear not, Apex isn’t just hanging out in one of Griffin’s lofts, overseeing his nightly buffet of caviar and gold-leafed Pringles.

From Slate ● Dec. 13, 2024

Stewart is wont to drop deep knowledge, whether he’s pointing out the sites of bygone jazz lofts in NoHo or spontaneously unpacking a Ravel score at the New School, where he is an adjunct professor.

From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2024

Here on Long Wharf, merchants’ counting houses were closed and shuttered, sail lofts deserted, the riggers and porters stood idle.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

He lofted a finish well wide in the 77th minute with his weaker right foot when one-on-one with Sanchez.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

It was a familiar sight: Caitlin Clark stepped to her left, paused and lofted a right-handed layup.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

That day isn’t here yet, and the company still hasn’t lofted any operational satellites into space with Starship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

“This meticulously restored Victorian delivers the ultimate Hamptons lifestyle: a luxuriously appointed main residence, a lofted studio, and resort-like grounds with a heated gunite pool.”

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026

Antoine faked a run to the right and lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone that some mud-covered Seagull receiver caught for the touchdown.

From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor

Touted for years by Musk as the key to taking humans to Mars, SpaceX is now looking to show that Starship can work, including by lofting the company’s own satellites into orbit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

Oviedo gave away a poor second goal after 57 minutes, with Raphinha running on to an undercooked back-pass from David Costas and lofting the ball over Oviedo goalkeeper Aaron Escandell.

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

England gave Southee his second guard of honour of the match, his quest to add to his 98 career sixes ended by lofting Bethell to long-on.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2024

This, meaning Ohtani lofting a ball high toward the right-center field wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2024

He was a good fellow, untiring both at his sport and at his toil, and as skilful in lofting a ball with a stroke of his club as in putting together a cartwheel.

From Devil Stories An Anthology by Various

Related Words

• apartment
• studio