loft

American  

[lawft, loft] / lɔft, lɒft /

noun

1. a room, storage area, or the like within a sloping roof; attic; garret.

2. a gallery or upper level in a church, hall, etc., designed for a special purpose.

   a choir loft.

3. a hayloft.

4. an upper story of a business building, warehouse, or factory, typically consisting of open, unpartitioned floor area.

5. such an upper story converted or adapted to any of various uses, as quarters for living, studios for artists or dancers, exhibition galleries, or theater space.

6. Also called loft bed.  a balcony or platform built over a living area and used especially for sleeping.

7. Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. an attic.

8. Golf.

   1. the slope of the face of the head of a club backward from the vertical, tending to drive the ball upward.

   2. the act of lofting.

   3. a lofting stroke.

9. the resiliency of fabric or yarn, especially wool.

10. the thickness of a fabric or of insulation used in a garment, as a down-filled jacket.

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verb (used with object)

1. to hit or throw aloft.

   He lofted a fly ball into center field.

2. Golf.

   1. to slant the face of (a club).

   2. to hit (a golf ball) into the air or over an obstacle.

   3. to clear (an obstacle) in this manner.

3. to store in a loft.

4. Shipbuilding. to form or describe (the lines of a hull) at full size, as in a mold loft; lay off.

5. Archaic. to provide (a house, barn, etc.) with a loft.

verb (used without object)

1. to hit or throw something aloft, especially a ball.

2. to go high into the air when hit, as a ball.

loft British  

/ lɒft /

noun

1. the space inside a roof

2. a gallery, esp one for the choir in a church

3. a room over a stable used to store hay

4. an upper storey of a warehouse or factory, esp when converted into living space

5. a raised house or coop in which pigeons are kept

6. sport

   1. (in golf) the angle from the vertical made by the club face to give elevation to a ball

   2. elevation imparted to a ball

   3. a lofting stroke or shot

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verb

1. sport to strike or kick (a ball) high in the air

2. to store or place in a loft

3. to lay out a full-scale working drawing of (the lines of a vessel's hull)

Other Word Forms

• loftless adjective
• underloft noun
• well-lofted adjective

Etymology

Origin of loft

before 1000; Middle English lofte (noun), late Old English loft < Old Norse lopt upper chamber or region, the air, sky. See lift

Explanation

When you loft something, you throw it high into the air, the way a baseball player might loft a ball from the outfield all the way to first base. Any way you propel an object — whether you throw, kick, or slingshot it — if it launches up and across a distance, you loft it. Another kind of loft is the large, open space above a warehouse or shop in which people live or work. Artists are particularly well known for having apartments or studios in lofts. This is closest to the word's original meaning, "an upper chamber," from the Old English loft, which means "the sky."

Example Sentences

The rest of the interior suggests a vast loft that has been crammed with boxy concrete pavilions that vary only in size.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Lori, who might be every bit as technically gifted as Julian, ekes out a living serving egg rolls in a food truck while sharing a walk-up loft with three other struggling painters.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

A guesthouse comes with a living room with a fireplace, as well as a full kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and loft space.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

One of the boys who took it hid it in his loft in Ireland before confessing to his son before his death.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

Or if nobody was watching me, I’d sneak up into the loft and look at the old almanacs Sam brought back from college sometimes.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Related Words

• apartment
• studio