[lohf] 
[lohvz] . | 1. | a portion of bread or cake baked in a mass, usually oblong with a rounded top. |
| 2. | a shaped or molded mass of food, as of sugar or chopped meat: a veal loaf. |
| 3. | British.
|
[lohf] | 1. | to idle away time: He figured the mall was as good a place as any for loafing. |
| 2. | to lounge or saunter lazily and idly: We loafed for hours along the water's edge. |
| 3. | to pass idly (usually fol. by away): to loaf one's life away. |
| loaf 1 (lōf) n. pl. loaves (lōvz)
[Middle English lof, from Old English hlāf.] Word History: Loaf, lord, and lady are closely related words that testify to bread's fundamental importance in the Middle Ages. Curiously, though bread was a staple food in many Indo-European cultures, loaf and its cognates occur only in the Germanic languages, and lord and lady only in English. Loaf derives from Old English hlāf, "bread, loaf of bread," related to Gothic hlaifs, Old Norse hleifr, and Modern German Laib, all of which mean "loaf of bread." Hlāf survives in Lammas, originally Hlāfmaesse, "Loaf-Mass," the Christian Feast of the First Fruits, traditionally celebrated on August 1. A lord, Old English hlāford, was a compound meaning "loaf-ward, keeper of bread," because a lord maintains and feeds his household and offers hospitality. Similarly, lady derives from Old English hlǣfdige, which became lady by 1382. The -dige comes from dæge, "kneader," and is related to our dough. A lady, therefore, is "a kneader of bread, a breadmaker." Lord and lady both retain vestiges of their original meanings, although England's aristocrats have not been elbow deep in flour, let alone dough, for several centuries. |
| loaf 2 (lōf) intr.v. loafed, loaf·ing, loafs To pass time at leisure; idle. [Probably back-formation from loafer.] |