loofah

[ loo-fuh ]

noun

1. Also called dish·cloth gourd [dish, -klawth gawrd],
   1. any of several tropical vines of the genus Luffa, of the gourd family, bearing large, elongated fruit.
   2. the fruit of such a vine.
2. Also called veg·e·ta·ble sponge [vej, -t, uh, -b, uh, l spuhnj]. the dried, fibrous interior of this fruit, used as a sponge.

loofah

/ ˈluːfə /

noun

1. the fibrous interior of the fruit of the dishcloth gourd, which is dried, bleached, and used as a bath sponge or for scrubbing
2. another name for dishcloth gourd

Word History and Origins

Origin of loofah¹

First recorded in 1860–65; from New Latin Luffa the genus, from Arabic lūf

Word History and Origins

Origin of loofah¹

C19: from New Latin luffa, from Arabic lūf

Example Sentences

This is when you have to stand in the shower for a solid 30 minutes, as your nerves slowly come back to life from their cryogenic state, before even picking up the loofah and soap.

From Outside Online

It’s sort of like the brain is a loofah full of sudsy soap sitting in the middle of a tub and the waves are hands reaching out to squish it clean.

From Popular-Science

Once I step out of the shower, these towels act like a loofah, I can actually feel the moisture wicking off of my body every time I use them.

From The Daily Beast

“Intercourse felt, often, like shoving a loofah into a mason jar,” she writes, for example.

From The Daily Beast

She had found a loofah, two sponges and some cakes of soap elaborately arranged in a pattern on the bathroom floor.

From Project Gutenberg

So Leslie picked up her chum's rough towels, her loofah and her verbena-scented soap.

From Project Gutenberg

It is devoid of any lining, and its texture puts one in mind of a loosely made loofah.

From Project Gutenberg

It weaves a nest which looks like a ragged loofah with a hole in the side.

From Project Gutenberg

Eleanor is the roughest and toughest loofah that was ever known.

From Project Gutenberg