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intr.v. loomed, loom·ing, looms 1. To come into view as a massive, distorted, or indistinct image: "I faced the icons that loomed through the veil of incense" (Fergus M. Bordewich). See Synonyms at appear. 2. To appear to the mind in a magnified and threatening form: "Stalin looms over the whole human tragedy of 1930-1933" (Robert Conquest). 3. To seem imminent; impend: Revolution loomed but the aristocrats paid no heed. n. A distorted, threatening appearance of something, as through fog or darkness. [Perhaps of Scandinavian origin.] |
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