I. ˈlōf noun
( plural loaves -ōvz ; also loafs -ōfs)
Etymology: Middle English lof, laf, from Old English hlāf bread, loaf; akin to Old High German hleib, leib bread, loaf, Old Norse hleifr, Gothic hlaifs
1.
a. : a shaped or molded mass of bread
a loaf of white bread
loaf bread and rolls
b. : a hollowed crust of a loaf of bread with a specified filling
oyster loaf
2. : a regularly molded often rectangular mass
a loaf of cheese
dried banana loaves
as
a. : a conical mass of sugar
sugar loaf
b. : a baked dish consisting usually of a specified main ingredient (as ground meat or fish) held together with soft crumbs or eggs and a liquid (as milk or tomato sauce)
beef loaf
salmon loaf
3.
a. : a thick lump or mass
her dark hair piled into an overhanging loaf — William Sansom
b. Britain : a head of a vegetable (as cabbage)
4. or loaf of bread slang Britain : head , mind
going to be a useful boy, so long as you use your loaf — Robert Westerby
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably back-formation from loafer (I)
intransitive verb
: to spend time in idleness : to lounge or loiter about or along : do no work
fired when he loafed on the job
cast the fly and loaf and dream — Henry van Dyke
a place where the cows loaf , usually near water, shade, or shelter — Plan & Profit with Herefords
got up slowly from the settee in the corner and loafed across the … lobby — Raymond Chandler
the herring gull … loafs along on slow wingbeats — Brooks Atkinson
transitive verb
: to spend in idleness
crowds of men who had come to loaf the evening away — Sherwood Anderson
•
- loaf one's way
III. noun
( -s )
: a time spent at loafing
went camping for a good loaf