luff
English
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luff¹
- /lʌf/ US, UK
- /lɐf/ Australia, New Zealand
- /lʊf/ Northern England
Where it comes from
From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch loef. Ellert Ekwall's Shakspere's Vocabulary: its etymological elements (1903) related this verb and loof instead to the East Frisian verb lofen, lufen, which would make it cognate to the French term lover.
noun luffs
- The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind. By easing the halyard, the luff of the sail was made to sag to leeward.
- The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.
- The roundest part of a ship's bow.
- The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
verb luffs · luffing · luffed
- To shake due to being trimmed improperly. I thought how my life is like a little boat and I must hold the tiller steady against the buffeting of wind and waves, and how sometimes, like this morning, I lose my hold somehow and the sail luffs helplessly and the little vessel wallows, turning this way and that in the swell.
- To bring the ship's head up closer to the wind. (Alternatively luff up) "Helm there! Luff, luff a point! So; steady, man, steady!"
- to let out (a sail) so that it luffs.
- To alter the vertical angle of the jib of a crane so as to bring it level with the load. The tower is mounted on a slewing platform, which also carries the power plant and the counterweights, while the jib is supported and luffed by fixed pendant ropes.
Luff²
proper noun Luffs
- A surname.
Translations
Every language
noun vertical edge of a sail
| Italiano | inferitura |
|---|---|
| עברית | שְׂפַת הַמִפְרָשׂ sfat hamifras |
noun forward or weather leech of a sail
| עברית | שָׂפָה קִדְמִית sapa kidmit |
|---|
Talk about this word "luff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/luff. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. luff. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/luff "luff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/luff.Cite this
@misc{luff_2026,
title = {luff},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/luff},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
