loft

[lawft, loft] /lɔft, lɒft/
noun
1.
a room, storage area, or the like within a sloping roof; attic; garret.
2.
a gallery or upper level in a church, hall, etc., designed for a special purpose:
a choir loft.
3.
a hayloft.
4.
an upper story of a business building, warehouse, or factory, typically consisting of open, unpartitioned floor area.
5.
such an upper story converted or adapted to any of various uses, as quarters for living, studios for artists or dancers, exhibition galleries, or theater space.
6.
Also called loft bed. a balcony or platform built over a living area and used especially for sleeping.
7.
Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. an attic.
8.
Golf.
  1. the slope of the face of the head of a club backward from the vertical, tending to drive the ball upward.
  2. the act of lofting.
  3. a lofting stroke.
9.
the resiliency of fabric or yarn, especially wool.
10.
the thickness of a fabric or of insulation used in a garment, as a down-filled jacket.
verb (used with object)
11.
to hit or throw aloft:
He lofted a fly ball into center field.
12.
Golf.
  1. to slant the face of (a club).
  2. to hit (a golf ball) into the air or over an obstacle.
  3. to clear (an obstacle) in this manner.
13.
to store in a loft.
14.
Shipbuilding. to form or describe (the lines of a hull) at full size, as in a mold loft; lay off.
15.
Archaic. to provide (a house, barn, etc.) with a loft.
verb (used without object)
16.
to hit or throw something aloft, especially a ball.
17.
to go high into the air when hit, as a ball.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English lofte (noun), late Old English loft < Old Norse lopt upper chamber or region, the air, sky. See lift
Related forms
loftless, adjective
underloft, noun
well-lofted, adjective
Examples from the web for loft
  • Entire third floor is available for lease in this four story loft building.
  • Even the two organs in the choir loft are decorated, with angels playing instruments.
  • Inevitably, its fine modernist headquarters have been converted to expensive loft-style housing.
  • loft-style look with exposed brick walls, post-and-beam construction.
  • Volume ceilings in the master bedroom and loft are available.
  • And a pallet house, with a sleeping loft, can house a family of four or five.
  • Under the loft, a padded bench provides additional sleeping space.
  • Make sure you have the right loft on the driver and the right shaft in the driver.
  • RS will refer to loft overhead if any unusual situation arises.
  • The loft theatre, also on main street, is the home of the human race theatre company.
British Dictionary definitions for loft

loft

/lɒft/
noun
1.
the space inside a roof
2.
a gallery, esp one for the choir in a church
3.
a room over a stable used to store hay
4.
an upper storey of a warehouse or factory, esp when converted into living space
5.
a raised house or coop in which pigeons are kept
6.
(sport)
  1. (in golf) the angle from the vertical made by the club face to give elevation to a ball
  2. elevation imparted to a ball
  3. a lofting stroke or shot
verb (transitive)
7.
(sport) to strike or kick (a ball) high in the air
8.
to store or place in a loft
9.
to lay out a full-scale working drawing of (the lines of a vessel's hull)
Word Origin
Late Old English, from Old Norse lopt air, ceiling; compare Old Danish and Old High German loft (German Luft air)
Word Origin and History for loft
n.

"an upper chamber," c.1300, from late Old English loft "the sky; the sphere of the air," from Old Norse lopt "air, sky," originally "upper story, loft, attic" (Scandinavian -pt- pronounced like -ft-), from Proto-Germanic *luftuz "air, sky" (cf. Old English lyft, Dutch lucht, Old High German luft, German Luft, Gothic luftus "air").

Sense development is from "loft, ceiling" to "sky, air." Buck suggests ultimate connection with Old High German louft "bark," louba "roof, attic," etc., with development from "bark" to "roof made of bark" to "ceiling," though this did not directly inform the meaning "air, sky." But Watkins says this is "probably a separate Germanic root." Meaning "gallery in a church" first attested c.1500.

v.

"to hit a ball high in the air," 1856, originally in golf, from loft (n.). Related: Lofted; lofting. An earlier sense was "to put a loft on" (a building), 1560s; also "to store (goods) in a loft" (1510s).