Loof

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The palm of the hand. Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal
  2. 2
    A contrivance (apparently a paddle or an oar) used for altering the course of a ship. obsolete
  3. 3
    The spongy fibers of the fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Luffa aegyptiaca). uncountable
  4. 4
    The hand, especially, the hand outspread and upturned. Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal
  5. 5
    The after part of the bow of a ship where the sides begin to curve.

Synonyms

All synonyms
palmpalm

Antonyms

All antonyms
hardel

Etymology

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English love, lufe, lofe, luf (“palm of the hand”), from Old Norse lōfi, from Proto-Germanic *lōfô (“palm of the hand; paw; oar blade, paddle”).

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English lof (“a contrivance for altering a ship's course, paddle, oar”), from Middle Dutch loef (“an oar or paddle used in steering”), ultimately of the same origin as Etymology 1. Compare luff.

Etymology 3

From Egyptian Arabic لُوف (lūf).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.