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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.
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

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!
"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
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
"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
loaf Idioms  

  1. see half a loaf is better than none.

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A can of pumpkin puree, leftover from a recent loaf, joined in.

From Salon

Guillermo del Toro renders this with a small sunlit vision: a hulking figure perched on a rooftop, savoring a loaf left out for the spirit the villagers imagine him to be.

From Salon

A fellow walked into a bike shop in Ontario, carrying a fresh loaf of sourdough bread.

From The Wall Street Journal

We ordered what I consider to be the perfect lunch: mussels poached in white wine and herbs, slices of crusty country loaf griddled in olive oil, and a plate of frites with aioli.

From Salon

After all, how many loaves of banana bread could one bake?

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.