loaf, n. [OE. lof, laf, AS. hlāf; akin to G. laib, OHG. hleip, Icel. hleifr, Goth. hlaifs, Russ. khlieb', Lith. klëpas. Cf. Lady, Lammas, Lord.].

Any thick lump, mass, or cake; especially, a large regularly shaped or molded mass, as of bread, sugar, or cake. Bacon. [1913 Webster]

Loaf sugar, refined sugar that has been formed into a conical loaf in a mold.

loaf, v. i. [G. laufen to run, Prov. G. loofen. See Leap.].

To spend time in idleness; to lounge or loiter about. W. Black. [1913 Webster]

loaf, v. t.

To spend in idleness; -- with away; as, to loaf time away. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

loaf, n. (pl. loaves)
1 a portion of baked bread, usu. of a standard size or shape.
2 a quantity of other food formed into a particular shape (sugar loaf; meat loaf).
3 sl. the head, esp. as a source of common sense (use your loaf).

Idiom

loaf sugar a sugar loaf as a whole or cut into lumps.

loaf, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. (often foll. by about, around) spend time idly; hang about.
2 tr. (foll. by away) waste (time) idly (loafed away the morning).
3 intr. saunter.
--n. an act or spell of loafing.

Etymology

prob. a back-form. f. LOAFER

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THESAURUS

loaf

Communion, Eucharist, Holy Communion, Host, Last Supper, Sacrament Sunday, altar bread, batch, bean, block, brains, bread, bread and wine, brick, bulk, bum, bum around, cake, chump, chunk, clod, clump, consecrated bread, consecrated elements, consubstantiation, cube, do nothing, elements, fritter away, gob, goldbrick, goof off, hang around, head, hunk, idle, idle away, impanation, intinction, lallygag, laze, lazy, lie around, loiter, loiter about, loll, loll around, lollop around, lollygag, lounge, lounge around, lump, mass, mooch around, moon, moon around, noddle, noggin, noodle, nugget, pat, quantity, real presence, sense, sit around, skive, slouch, slouch around, stand around, subpanation, take it easy, the Holy Sacrament, the Sacrament, transubstantiation, vegetate, wad, wafer, waste

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ROGET THESAURUS

loaf

Inactivity

VB be inactive, do nothing, move slowly, let the grass grow under one's feet, take one's time, dawdle, drawl, droil, lag, hang back, slouch, loll, lollop, lounge, poke, loaf, loiter, go to sleep over, sleep at one's post, ne battre que d'une aile, take it easy, take things as they come, lead an easy life, vegetate, swim with the stream, eat the bread of idleness, loll in the lap of luxury, loll in the lap of indolence, waste time, consume time, kill time, lose time, burn daylight, waste the precious hours, idle away time, trifle away time, fritter away time, fool away time, spend time in, take time in, peddle, piddle, potter, pudder, dabble, faddle fribble, fiddle-faddle, dally, dilly-dally, sleep, slumber, be asleep, hibernate, oversleep, sleep like a top, sleep like a log, sleep like a dormouse, sleep soundly, heavily, doze, drowze, snooze, nap, take a nap, dream, snore one's best, settle to sleep, go to sleep, go off to sleep, doze off, drop off, fall asleep, drop asleep, close the eyes, seal up the eyes, seal up eyelids, weigh down the eyelids, get sleep, nod, yawn, go to bed, turn, get some z's, stack z's, languish, expend itself, flag, hang fire, relax, render idle, sluggardize, mitigate.

Size

N size, magnitude, dimension, bulk, volume, largeness, greatness, expanse, amplitude, mass, proportions, capacity, tonnage, tunnage, cordage, caliber, scantling, turgidity, corpulence, obesity, plumpness, embonpoint, corporation, flesh and blood, lustihood, hugeness, enormity, immensity, monstrosity, giant, Brobdingnagian, Antaeus, Goliath, Gog and Magog, Gargantua, monster, mammoth, Cyclops, cachalot, whale, porpoise, behemoth, leviathan, elephant, hippopotamus, colossus, tun, cord, lump, bulk, block, loaf, mass, swad, clod, nugget, bushel, thumper, whooper, spanker, strapper, Triton among the minnows, mountain, mound, heap, largest portion, full size, life size, large, big, great, considerable, bulky, voluminous, ample, massive, massy, capacious, comprehensive, spacious, mighty, towering, fine, magnificent, corpulent, stout, fat, obese, plump, squab, full, lusty, strapping, bouncing, portly, burly, well-fed, full-grown, corn fed, gram fed, stalwart, brawny, fleshy, goodly, in good case, in good condition, in condition, chopping, jolly, chub faced, chubby faced, lubberly, hulky, unwieldy, lumpish, gaunt, spanking, whacking, whopping, walloping, thumping, thundering, hulking, overgrown, puffy, huge, immense, enormous, mighty, vast, vasty, amplitudinous, stupendous, monster, monstrous, humongous, monumental, elephantine, jumbo, mammoth, gigantic, gigantean, giant, giant like, titanic, prodigious, colossal, Cyclopean, Brobdingnagian, Bunyanesque, Herculean, Gargantuan, infinite, large as life, plump as a dumpling, plump as a partridge, fat as a pig, fat as a quail, fat as butter, fat as brawn, fat as bacon, immeasurable, unfathomable, unplumbed, inconceivable, unimaginable, unheard-of, of cosmic proportions, of epic proportions, the mother of all, teh granddaddy of all.

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