looms

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of loom.

   A massive cliff looms above the harbor, casting the docks in shadow.

   The threat of layoffs looms over the entire department.

   Note

   Here the verb never takes an object: something looms, usually over or above something else. It starts with what shows dimly on the horizon or through murk. From there it extends to what towers or threatens, such as a cliff, a fear that fills the mind, or an event close at hand. A further figurative use lets a person loom in moral stature, risen and ennobled rather than menacing.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of loom.

   Power looms replaced hand weaving across the region's textile mills.

   The museum displays several antique looms from the early factory era.

   Note

   An ordinary -s plural that covers more than weaving machines. Most often it means the frames on which cloth is woven, as in hand looms and power looms. The same plural also serves for the shafts of oars, between grip and blade, and in dated use it named loons, the diving birds. The spelling is shared with the verb of appearing, so only the sentence shows whether looms is a thing or an action.

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