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loaf

1
[ lohf ]
/ loʊf /
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See synonyms for: loaf / loafing / loaves on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural loaves [lohvz]. /loʊvz/.
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.
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.
British.
  1. the rounded head of a cabbage, lettuce, etc.
  2. Slang: Older Use. head or brains: Use your loaf.
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Origin of loaf

1
First recorded before 950; Middle English lo(o)f, Old English hlāf “loaf, bread”; cognate with German Laib, Old Norse hleifr, Gothic hlaifs

Other definitions for loaf (2 of 2)

loaf2
[ lohf ]
/ loʊf /

verb (used without object)
to idle away time: He figured the mall was as good a place as any for loafing.
to lounge or saunter lazily and idly: We loafed for hours along the water's edge.
verb (used with object)
to pass idly (usually followed by away): to loaf one's life away.

Origin of loaf

2
An Americanism first recorded in 1825–35; back formation from loafer

synonym study for loaf

1, 3. See lounge.

OTHER WORDS FROM loaf

un·loaf·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use loaf in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for loaf (1 of 2)

loaf1
/ (ləʊf) /

noun plural loaves (ləʊvz)
a shaped mass of baked bread
any shaped or moulded mass of food, such as cooked meat
slang the head; senseuse your loaf!

Word Origin for loaf

Old English hlāf; related to Old High German hleib bread, Old Norse hleifr, Latin libum cake

British Dictionary definitions for loaf (2 of 2)

loaf2
/ (ləʊf) /

verb
(intr) to loiter or lounge around in an idle way
(tr foll by away) to spend (time) idlyhe loafed away his life

Word Origin for loaf

C19: perhaps back formation from loafer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with loaf

loaf

see half a loaf is better than none.

The American HeritageŸ Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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