loaf
Definitions
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WordNet 3.6
- v loaf be about "The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square","Who is this man that is hanging around the department?"
- v loaf be lazy or idle "Her son is just bumming around all day"
- n loaf a quantity of food (other than bread) formed in a particular shape "meat loaf","sugar loaf","a loaf of cheese"
- n loaf a shaped mass of baked bread that is usually sliced before eating
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Interesting fact: According to Scandinavian traditions, if a boy and girl eat from the same loaf of bread, they are bound to fall in love
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- n Loaf Any thick lump, mass, or cake; especially, a large regularly shaped or molded mass, as of bread, sugar, or cake.
- v. t Loaf To spend in idleness; -- with away; as, to loaf time away.
- v. i Loaf To spend time in idleness; to lounge or loiter about. "Loafing vagabonds."
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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Interesting fact: A scientist at Michigan State University has calculated that the production of a single hen egg requires about 120 gallons of water, a loaf of bread requires 300 gallons, and a pound of beef, 3,500.
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- n loaf A portion of bread baked in one lump or mass; a regularly shaped or molded mass of bread; hence, any shaped or molded mass of cake, sugar, or the like.
- n loaf In the medieval ch. in England, the blessed bread; a eulogia.
- loaf To idle away one's time; lounge; dawdle; play the vagabond; stroll idly and without purpose.
- loaf To pass or spend in idleness, as time; spend lazily; dawdle: with away: as, to loaf away whole days.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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Interesting fact: The wheat that produces a one-pound loaf of bread requires 2 tons of water to grow.
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- n Loaf lōf a regularly shaped mass of bread: a mass of sugar: any lump
- v.i Loaf lōf to loiter, pass time idly
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Quotations
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“College-bred is a four-year loaf, using dad's dough, Coming out half-baked, with a lot of crust.” -
“Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf ;is better than a whole loaf.” -
“Fishing seems to be the favorite form of loafing.” -
“Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess, and yet all the honesty in the world ain't lawful tender for a loaf of bread.” -
“It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all.” -
“Even if a farmer intends to loaf, he gets up in time to get an early start.”
Idioms
A slice off a cut loaf is never missed - Used colloquially to describe having sexual intercourse with someone who is not a virgin, especially when they are in a relationship. The analogy refers to a loaf of bread; it is not readily apparent, once the end has been removed, exactly how many slices have been taken.('You never miss a slice from a cut loaf' is also used.)
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Half a loaf is better than no bread - It means that getting part of what you want is better than getting nothing at all.
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Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
OE. lof, laf, AS. hlāf,; akin to G. laib, OHG. hleip, Icel. hleifr, Goth. hlaifs, Russ. khlieb', Lith. klëpas,. Cf. Lady Lammas Lord
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Prob. directly Ger. läufer, a runner, laufen, to run about.
Usage
In literature:
I paid a shilling for a loaf which I could always obtain before the closing order came into force for twopence!
"Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons" by Henry Charles Mahoney
I vow he had stuffed one pocket full of stockings, and from the other protruded a loaf of bread!
"Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People" by Constance D'Arcy Mackay
On the plate, burned almost to a cinder, was the loaf of bread that Nora had forgotten.
"The Land of Promise" by D. Torbett
Rub the crumbs of the loaf as fine as possible in the hands, then add to the soaked and softened crust.
"Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus" by Rufus Estes
Yes; that man began my education, and had I only gone straight on I should not be loafing about The Chequers.
"The Chequers" by James Runciman
Bread in loaf wrapped in wax-paper.
"On the Trail" by Lina Beard and Adelia Belle Beard
We encamped opposite a mountain, rising pretty high in sugar-loaf shape, called Adudai.
"Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 2" by James Richardson
He thought that such a pretty loaf might tempt even the sick.
"The Ontario Readers" by Ontario Ministry of Education
To turn a loaf of bread upside down is ill luck.
"Current Superstitions" by Various
The youthful army was happily engaged in loafing and in play.
"Steve Yeager" by William MacLeod Raine
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In poetry:
Until, through the loafing
Afternoon's waste of while,
The silence self-unleafing
Of your useless smile.
Afternoon's waste of while,
The silence self-unleafing
Of your useless smile.
"Your Eyes Go Sad" by Fernando Pessoa
While the summer day is hot
You and I will loaf awhile,
Lolling in a leafy spot,
Lali of the cunning smile.
You and I will loaf awhile,
Lolling in a leafy spot,
Lali of the cunning smile.
"Lali" by John Le Gay Brereton
A loaf of bread, a lofty hill;
A wasp, a cruel leopard;
And specks of sale as bright to see
As lambkins to a shepherd.
A wasp, a cruel leopard;
And specks of sale as bright to see
As lambkins to a shepherd.
"The Fly" by Walter de la Mare
And they are better far than we,
And she bestows a worthier meed;
For, with the loaf of charity,
She gives the kiss that children need.
And she bestows a worthier meed;
For, with the loaf of charity,
She gives the kiss that children need.
"Charity" by Victor Marie Hugo
Wait? . . . Gawd! . . . I never knoo wot waitin' meant.
In all me life till that day I was sent
To loaf around, while there inside—Aw, strike!
I couldn't tell yeh wot that hour was like!
In all me life till that day I was sent
To loaf around, while there inside—Aw, strike!
I couldn't tell yeh wot that hour was like!
"The Kid " by C J Dennis
I will choose what clouds I like
In the great white fleets that wander the blue
As I lie on my back or loaf at the rail.
And I will listen as the veering winds kiss me and fold me
And put on my brow the touch of the world's great will.
In the great white fleets that wander the blue
As I lie on my back or loaf at the rail.
And I will listen as the veering winds kiss me and fold me
And put on my brow the touch of the world's great will.
"Waiting" by Carl Sandburg
In news:
Turns out Meat Loaf was in town for the Kent State Folk Festival.
Hey, it's Meat Loaf, you guys.
Fill each of the prepared loaf pans about three-quarters full with batter.
Land O Lakes new deli food blends four Italian cheeses into one loaf.
Classic rocker Meat Loaf is preparing for knee surgery today.
Mangrove Mama's is situated on Sugar Loaf Key in Key West and is almost hidden by overgrown bushes, it looks like a shack.
The Very Best of Meat Loaf .
North Carolina's Archers of Loaf are one of the best bands to come out of the alternative-rock explosion of the 1990s.
Grammy winning singer, Meat Loaf , gave his endorsement to Mitt Romney at a recent rally in Defiance, Ohio.
What Mitt didn't know was that Meat Loaf was about to make a fool of himself moments after the endorsement was made.
Combining two of my fav things tacos and meat loaf .
More than 400 possible cases of price gouging of gasoline and other essentials, including a $10 box of matches and $7 loaf of bread, have been reported in New York before and after Sandy.
Leslie Gore and Meat Loaf get political.
Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent transportation shutdown, the Meat Loaf concert scheduled for Thu.
Of Mad Men, Mad Women and Meat Loaf .
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In science:
The crystals tended to show rounded tops as they became larger, with a characteristic “bread-loaf” shape that indicates that the growth on top is likely limited by heating .
A Critical Look at Ice Crystal Growth Data
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