loft

American  

[lawft, loft] / lɔft, lɒft /

noun

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)

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)

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

• loftless adjective
• underloft noun
• well-lofted adjective

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

Example Sentences

The loft is great, but rather than upgrade, I’m thinking about a house in upstate New York or London.

From The Wall Street Journal

Keeps a board in the pigeon loft, and we’ve usually got a game going.

From Literature

Changes to the rules mean homes are no longer required to have existing loft or cavity wall insulation, which could save around £2,500 in upfront costs.

From BBC

These will be seen from the lofted windows of adjacent Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s soon-to-open David Geffen Galleries, and once the upgrades are completed the two campuses are meant to complement each other.

From Los Angeles Times

It was also a big move away from the midcentury modern aesthetic that Harbour enjoyed in his first home—a one-bedroom loft inside a former wagon factory in New York’s trendy NoHo neighborhood.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• apartment
• studio