loaf
noun
- block of bread after baking
- solid block of food
- solid block of soap
verb
- to be lazy or move about in a lazy fashion
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ləʊf/ / /loʊf/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz Proto-West Germanic *hlaib Old English hlāf Middle English lof English loaf * From Middle English laf, lof, loof, from Old English hlāf (“bread; loaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlaib, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz (“bread; loaf”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Old English hlifian (“to stand out prominently, tower up”). Cognates Cognate with German Laib (“loaf”), Danish and Swedish lev (“loaf”), Faroese leivur (“an oblong bun”), Icelandic hleifur (“loaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk leiv (“loaf”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍃 (hlaibs), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs, “bread”) (whence Proto-Slavic *xlěbъ (“bread”) (see there for further descendants)), Estonian leib (“black bread”), Finnish leipä (“bread; loaf”); also Latvian klaips (“loaf”), Lithuanian kliẽpas (“loaf”). Doublet of chleb and khleb. * (brain or head): Rhyming slang, ellipsis of loaf of bread.
- A block of bread after baking.
“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.”
- Any solid block of food, such as meat or sugar.
“sugar-loaf”
- Ellipsis of loaf of bread: the brain or the head.
“use one's loaf”
“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.””
- A solid block of soap, from which standard bar soap is cut.
- A particular still life configuration with seven living cells.
“It runs for 17331 generations before stabilizing as 136 blinkers, 109 blocks, 65 beehives, 18 loaves, 18 boats, 7 ships, 4 tubs, 3 ponds, 2 toads, and 40 gliders.”
“Running a LWSS into it can produce various debris. One of these reactions produces a loaf. When the loaf is properly hit with other LWSSs, it can be pulled backwards.”
- A catloaf.
verb
Etymology: Probably a back-formation from loafer.
- 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)https://web.archive.org/web/20151213095110/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/vultures-text 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.”