loom
Plural: looms
Noun
- a textile machine for weaving yarn into a textile
- A utensil; tool; a weapon; (usually in compound) an article in general.
- A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.
- The part of an oar which is between the grip or handle and the blade; the shaft.
- loon (bird of order Gaviiformes)
- A distorted appearance of something as seen indistinctly or from afar.
Verb
Verb Forms: loomed, looming, looms
- To appear as a large, often threatening, or indistinct form.
- come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
- "Another air plane loomed into the sky"
- appear very large or occupy a commanding position
- "Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall"
- hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing
- weave on a loom
- "materials loomed in Egypt"
- To appear indistinctly, e.g. when seen on the horizon or through the murk.
- To appear in an exaggerated or threatening form; (of a person or thing) to tower; (of an idea) to impressively or intimidatingly occupy the mind; (of an event) to be imminent.
- To rise and to be eminent; to be elevated or ennobled, in a moral sense.
Examples
- The clouds loomed over the mountains.
- The possibility of a triple-word score LOOMED large, tempting him to save his ’Z’.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz, *lōmijaz (“lame, halt”), from Proto-Indo-European *lem- (“to break, soften”).
Compare Old High German giluomo, kilōmo (“often, frequently”), Old High German luomen (“to wear out, fatigue”), Old High German *luomī (as in gastluomī (“hospitality”), Old English lama (“lame”). See lame.
Outside Proto-Germanic related to Russian ломи́ть (lomítʹ, “to break”), Russian лома́ть (lomátʹ, “to break, to fracture”), Russian ле́мех (lémex, “ploughshare”). For the semantic development compare Serbo-Croatian ра́збо̄ј (“loom (weaving frame)”) related to ра̀збити (“to break, to smash, to crack”).
Synonyms
brood, bulk large, hover, hulk, predominate, tower
Scrabble Score: 6
loom: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordloom: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
loom: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary