loof

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Wi 'bodies an' gear i 'her loof --

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Definitions (10)

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  1. The palm of the hand; also, the hand itself. [North. Eng. and Scotch.] I may towch with my lufe the ground evyn here. Towneley Mysteries, p. 32. Auld baudrons [a cat] by the ingle sits, An' wi' her loof her face a washin'. Burns, Willie Wastle.
  2. To creesh one's loof. See creesh.
  3. A contrivance (apparently a paddle or an oar) for altering the course of a ship. See etymology. Heo rihten heore loues And up drogen seiles, Lithen ouer sæstrem. Layamon.

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Examples (50)

  • But we were as daft as wise; so he bade me take my big shears, and cut out all the hair on the fore part of the head as bare as my loof; and syne we washed, and better washed; so Magneezhy got the other eye up, when the barkened blood was loosed; looking, though as pale as a clean shirt, more frighted than hurt; until it became plain to us all, first to the Doctor, syne to me, and syne to Tammie Bodkin, and last of all to Magneezhy himself, that his skin was not so much as peeled. —  The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith
  • After giving his breeches-knees a skuff with his loof, to dad off the stoure, he came, right foot foremost, to the counter side, while the laddies were dighting their brows, and stowing away the webs upon their ends round about, saying, "Maister Wauch, how have ye the conscience to send hame such a piece o' wark as that coat to ony decent man? —  The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith
  • Nen cut with knife a litty roun' ho' frough loof, an' look down into dissa house. —  Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes Mystic-Humorous Stories
  • So I lie on top dissa loof, vay dly, vay hunger; an' ole tem shee her husban' eat subbah an' kip dlink, dlink, an' kiss his wife, an' dlink, an' getta maw an' maw intoshcate. —  Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes Mystic-Humorous Stories
  • Light go out, I hang foot over' side dissa loof, an' begin fink. —  Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes Mystic-Humorous Stories
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also (dial.) lufe, leuf; from Middle English lofe, lufe, the palm of the hand (see also loof), from Anglo-Saxon *lōf (not certain; supposed to be contained in glōf, later English glove, q. v.) = Icelandic lōfi, the palm of the hand, = Swedish lofve, the wrist, = Danish dial. luffe (in luffevante, a woolen glove) = Goth, lōfa, the palm of the hand. Hence perhaps ult. loof, q. v.
  2. Also (in some uses) luff; from Middle English lof (later Old French loffe), a contrivance for altering a ship's course (called in Middle Latin dracena), prob. a paddle or an oar to assist the helm (see quot. under def. ; cf. German luf, luv, loff = Danish luv = Swedish luf, the weather-gage, = Old French lof, loef, louf, loo, the weather-gage, the lower corner of a sail next the wind; from Dutch loef, the weather-gage, loof, luff, Old Dutch loef, apparently a paddle or oar used in steering, also, like loeve, loefnagel, a thole; cf. loefhals, loefhout, etc.; cf. also Middle English lof, a beam or bar; apparently orig. a particular use of the word which appears in English loof, the palm of the hand; cf. Old High German laffa, Middle High German *laffe, German dial. laffen, laff, the blade of an oar, or of a rudder; cf. Latin palma, the palm of the hand, also the blade of an oar. Hence aloof, q. v. See luff.
 

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