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Webster 1913 Edition

Loaf

Loaf

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Loaves
(#)
.
[OE.
lof
,
laf
, AS.
hlāf
; akin to G.
laib
, OHG.
hleip
, Icel.
hleifr
, Goth.
hlaifs
, Russ.
khlieb’
, Lith.
klëpas
. Cf.
Lady
,
Lammas
,
Lord
.]
Any thick lump, mass, or cake; especially, a large regularly shaped or molded mass, as of bread, sugar, or cake.
Bacon.
Loaf sugar
,
refined sugar that has been formed into a conical loaf in a mold.

Loaf

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Loafed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Loafing
.]
[G.
laufen
to run, Prov. G.
loofen
. See
Leap
.]
To spend time in idleness; to lounge or loiter about.
“ Loafing vagabonds.”
W. Black.

Loaf

,
Verb.
T.
To spend in idleness; – with
away
;
as, to
loaf
time away
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Loaf

LOAF

,
Noun.
plu.
loaves.
1.
A mass of bread when baked. It is larger than a cake. The size and price of a loaf, in large cities, are regulated by law.
2.
A mass or lump, as of sugar.
3.
Any thick mass.

Definition 2025

loaf

loaf

English

two loaves (1) of bread

Noun

loaf ‎(plural loaves)

  1. (also loaf of bread) A block of bread after baking.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.
  2. Any solid block of food, such as meat or sugar.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
  3. (Cockney rhyming slang) Shortened from "loaf of bread", the brain or the head (mainly in the phrase use one's loaf).
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter VIII and XII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
      It is frequently said of Bertram Wooster that he is a man who can think on his feet, and if the necessity arises he can also use his loaf when on all fours. [...] “Why didn't the idiot tell her not to open it?” “It was his first move. ‘I've found a letter from you here, precious,’ she said. ‘On no account open it, angel,’ he said. So of course she opened it.” She pursed the lips, nodded the loaf, and ate a moody piece of crumpet. “So that's why he's been going about looking like a dead fish.”
  4. A solid block of soap, from which standard bars are cut.
Synonyms
Derived terms
References
  • (soap) Miller, J.L. "Customers believe in downstate Soap Fairy", The News Journal, B10, January 10, 2006.
Translations

Etymology 2

Probably a back-formation from loafer.

Verb

loaf ‎(third-person singular simple present loafs, present participle loafing, simple past and past participle loafed)

  1. (intransitive) To do nothing, to be idle.
    loaf about, loaf around.
    • 2015, Elizabeth Royte, Vultures Are Revolting. Here’s Why We Need to Save Them., National Geographic (December 2015)
      They don’t (often) kill other animals, they probably form monogamous pairs, and we know they share parental care of chicks, and loaf and bathe in large, congenial groups.
  2. (Cockney rhyming slang) To headbutt, (from loaf of bread)
Synonyms
Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English lof, laf, from Old English hlāf ‎(“loaf, cake, bread, food, sacramental bread”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz ‎(“bread, loaf”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Old English hlifian ‎(“to stand out prominently, tower up”). Cognate with Scots laif ‎(“loaf”), German Laib ‎(“loaf”), Swedish lev ‎(“loaf”), Russian хлеб ‎(xleb, “bread, loaf”).

Pronunciation

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