loaf
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ləʊf/
ipa: /loʊf/
rhymes: -əʊf
Forms: form: loaves
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz
Proto-West Germanic *hlaib
Old English hlāf
Middle English lof
English loaf
* From Middle English lof, laf, from Old English hlāf (“bread, loaf of bread”), 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”). Cognate with Scots laif (“loaf”), German Laib (“loaf”), Swedish lev (“loaf”), Russian хлеб (xleb, “bread, loaf”), Polish chleb (“bread”); as a borrowing, Finnish leipä (“bread”), Estonian leib (“black bread”). Doublet of chleb and khleb.
* (brain or head): Rhyming slang, ellipsis of loaf of bread.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
qualifier: also loaf of bread
glosses: A block of bread after baking.
examples: text: sugar-loaf
ref: 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “IV. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
glosses: Any solid block of food, such as meat or sugar.
examples: text: use one's loaf
text: 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.”
ref: 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VIII AND XII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: bonce
word: noddle
word: nut
word: bean
word: beaner
word: belfry
word: block
word: bonce
word: brainbox
word: brain bucket
word: dome
word: head
word: loaf
word: lolly
word: napper
word: noodle
word: noddle
word: noggin
word: nut
word: sconce
word: skull
glosses: Ellipsis of loaf of bread: the brain or the head.
glosses: A solid block of soap, from which standard bar soap is cut.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1989 November 20, Dean Hickerson, “Life: glider gun origin”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
text: 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.
ref: 1992 September 10, David Bell, “Spaceships in Conway's Life (Part 3b)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
text: I am looking for the smallest ancestor of the following four loaf pattern in Conway's Game of Life:
ref: 1998 January 27, Ian Osgood, “Life: looking for smallest ancestor of a quad-loaf”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
topics: cellular-automata
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A particular still life configuration with seven living cells.
glosses: A catloaf.
Derived terms: barracouta loaf
catloaf
catloafed
confinement loaf
cottage loaf
disciplinary loaf
Dutch loaf
farmhouse loaf
farthing loaf
flesh loaf
fleshloaf
foodloaf
French loaf
frosted ribbon loaf
granary loaf
half a loaf is better than no bread
half a loaf is better than no loaf
half a loaf is better than none
liverloaf
loaf bread
loaflet
loaflike
loaf of bread
loaf pan
loaf sugar
malt loaf
meatless loaf
meatloaf
meat loaf
nut loaf
olive loaf
pan-loaf
pimento loaf
pinch a loaf
plain loaf
Pullman loaf
ribbon loaf
sandwich loaf
sugar loaf
sugar-loaf
tank loaf
tea loaf
temse loaf
Vienna loaf
wave loaf