Library / English Dictionary

LOOM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A textile machine for weaving yarn into a textile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("loom" is a kind of...):

textile machine (a machine for making textiles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loom"):

carpet loom (a loom for weaving carpeting)

figure loom; figured-fabric loom (a loom for weaving figured fabrics)

handloom (a loom powered by hand)

Jacquard; Jacquard loom (a loom with an attachment for forming openings for the passage of the shuttle between the warp threads; used in weaving figured fabrics)

power loom (a loom operated mechanically)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Weave on a loom

Example:

materials loomed in Egypt

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "loom" is one way to...):

tissue; weave (create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Appear very large or occupy a commanding position

Example:

Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall

Synonyms:

hulk; loom; predominate; tower

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "loom" is one way to...):

lift; rear; rise (rise up)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Come into view indistinctly, often threateningly

Example:

Another air plane loomed into the sky

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "loom" is one way to...):

appear; look; seem (give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing

Example:

The terrible vision brooded over her all day long

Synonyms:

brood; bulk large; hover; loom

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "loom" is one way to...):

hang (be menacing, burdensome, or oppressive)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loom"):

dominate; eclipse; overshadow (be greater in significance than)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sentence examples:

Some big birds loom in the tree

There loom some big birds in the tree

Credits

 Context examples: 

He was dressed in a legal-looking suit of black, and loomed, burly and large, in that small office.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A call at Meg's, and a refreshing sniff and sip at the Daisy and Demijohn, still further fortified her for the tete-a-tete, but when she saw a stalwart figure looming in the distance, she had a strong desire to turn about and run away.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pits.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

On the next day Koona went, and but five of them remained: Joe, too far gone to be malignant; Pike, crippled and limping, only half conscious and not conscious enough longer to malinger; Sol-leks, the one-eyed, still faithful to the toil of trace and trail, and mournful in that he had so little strength with which to pull; Teek, who had not travelled so far that winter and who was now beaten more than the others because he was fresher; and Buck, still at the head of the team, but no longer enforcing discipline or striving to enforce it, blind with weakness half the time and keeping the trail by the loom of it and by the dim feel of his feet.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloud-bank.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We had not gone thirty yards before a great black opening loomed in the wall.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I talk of the instinct of life, which is to live, and which, when death looms near and large, masters the instinct, so called, of immortality.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The island already lay like a cloud behind them, while right in front was St. Alban's Head, with Portland looming mistily in the farthest distance.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was suspicious of the looming bulks of the trees and of the dark shadows that might conceal all manner of perilous things.

(White Fang, by Jack London)