# loom

Pronunciation: say "LOOM" US /lum/, UK /luːm/

## Verb

1. To appear in an exaggerated or threatening form, towering over something, dominating the mind, or seeming dangerously imminent.
   - Simple: To seem large, frightening, or dangerously close, often in someone's mind.
   - _The mountains loom above the tiny coastal village._
   - _A sense of dread loomed over the whole team as the verdict approached._
3. To appear indistinctly, as when something is seen on the horizon or through mist.
   - Simple: To appear faintly or unclearly, as through fog or far away.
   - _Out of the mist, the cliffs slowly loom into view._
   - _Something large loomed ahead on the fog-bound road._
6. To rise and become eminent; to be morally elevated or ennobled.
   - Simple: To rise high in worth or honor, becoming morally great.
   - _Few figures in the town's history loom higher than the doctor who treated the poor for nothing._
   - _His integrity loomed over the lesser ambitions of his rivals._

## Noun

2. A frame or machine in which a weaver forms cloth from thread, interweaving yarn into fabric as in knitting or lace making.
   - Simple: A machine or frame used to make cloth by weaving threads together.
   - _The weaver threaded the loom carefully before starting the rug._
   - _Modern power looms can produce fabric far faster than hand weaving._
4. The blurred, distorted outline of something glimpsed dimly or from far off.
   - Simple: The unclear, changed shape of something seen far away or through fog.
   - _A faint loom of land appeared where the sailors expected the coast._
   - _The loom of the iceberg in the fog tricked the crew about its real size._
5. The shaft of an oar, the section running from the handle to the blade.
   - Simple: The middle part of an oar, between the handle and the wide, flat blade.
   - _She wrapped tape around the loom of the oar to protect her hands._
   - _A crack ran along the loom, weakening the whole oar._
7. A utensil, tool, or weapon; more generally an article of any kind, usually appearing in compounds.
   - Simple: A tool, utensil, or weapon, or any object used for some purpose.
   - _Each fisherman stowed his loom and tackle before the boat set out._
   - _She inherited a chest of household looms from her grandmother._

## Noun

8. A fish-eating diving bird of the order Gaviiformes, more commonly called a loon. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A diving water bird of northern lakes, also called a loon.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 5, 7** — From Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma meaning 'tool, utensil, or household item', going back to Proto-West Germanic *lōmō of uncertain origin. It is cognate with Dutch alaam ('tool'), and it perhaps originally meant 'a thing of frequent use', which would link it to Old English ġelōme ('often, repeatedly').
**Meaning 8** — A Shetland dialect word for a diver or guillemot, from Old Norse lómr, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European expressive root *leh₂- ('to howl').
**Meanings 1, 3–4, 6** — Origin uncertain. It is perhaps from Old Norse ljóma ('to shine, radiate'), or alternatively perhaps related to words such as Saterland Frisian loomje ('to limp'), Swedish loma ('to go slowly'), and Middle High German lüemen ('to become weak, tire'); compare English lame.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/loom (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).