I. ˈlȯft also ˈläft noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Old Norse lopt air, upper story; akin to Old English lyft air, Old Saxon & Old High German luft, Gothic luftus
1.
a. archaic : the upper regions : sky
they are only birds — swifts in the loft of the morning — Walter de la Mare
b. obsolete : the ceiling of a room
2. : a room or floor above another : an upper room or story : an attic room : attic
moved into a student loft — Saul Bellow
a slated cottage … containing a kitchen, two bedrooms and a loft — J.M.Mogey
3.
a. : a gallery in a church or hall
below the organ loft — H.S.Morrison
b.
(1) : one of the upper floors of a warehouse or business building especially when not partitioned
stock clerk in a garment loft — William DuBois
(2) : a work space in an industrial or manufacturing building
c. : an upper part of a barn used especially for storing hay : hayloft
climbing painfully up into the loft to pitch down some hay — F.B.Gipson
4. : a coop or house for pigeons ; also : a stock of pigeons
5.
a.
(1) : the backward slant of the face of a golf-club head
(2) : height 2b(1)
won't give the ball enough loft — Johnny Revolta
b. : the act of lofting : a lofting stroke
6. : the resilience of textile fibers especially wool
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to place or store in a loft
the remainder of the crop which was measured and lofted — George Washington
b. : to house in a loft
lofted his pigeons on the roof
2. obsolete : to build or furnish with a loft
3.
a.
(1) : to strike (a ball) so as to cause to rise sharply : toss usually in an arc
lofted a pop fly to short center field — W.B.Furlong
lofting stones at street lights — Maxwell Griffith
(2) : to cause to rise or advance : promote
was lofted to a new job — Time
b. : to shoot (a taw) in an arched course through the air
c. : to release (a bowling ball) in such a way as to cause to drop onto the alley beyond the foul line
4. : to cause (as a golf ball) to rise high into the air
5. : to lay out a full-sized working drawing of the lines and contours of (as a ship's hull or an airplane's wing)
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to hit or throw a ball high into the air
b. : to rise high into the air when struck
2. : to loft a bowling ball