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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.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. An apparatus for making thread or yarn into cloth by weaving strands together at right angles. tr.v. loomed, loom·ing, looms To weave (a tapestry, for example) on a loom. [Middle English lome, from Old English gelōma, tool : ge-, collective pref.; see YCLEPT + -lōma, tool (as in handlōman, tools).]  (click for a larger image) loom2 |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
