n.
Variant: also luf · fa
Pronunciation: ' lü-f ə
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin luffa, from Arabic l ū f
Date: 1887
1 : any of a genus ( Luffa ) of Old World tropical plants of the gourd family with large fruits also : its fruit
2 : a sponge consisting of the fibrous skeleton of the fruit of a loofah (esp. Luffa aegyptiaca )