Loom /(lo͡om)/

1. See Loon, the bird. (Zool.)

1. A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.

   Hector, when he sees Andromache overwhelmed with terror, sends her for consolation to the loom and the distaff.

2. That part of an oar which is near the grip or handle and inboard from the rowlock. (Naut.)

imp. & p. p. Loomed; p. pr. & vb. n. Looming

1. To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to appear enlarged, or distorted and indistinct, as a distant object, a ship at sea, or a mountain, esp. from atmospheric influences; as, the ship looms large; the land looms high.

   Awful she looms, the terror of the main.

2. To rise and to be eminent; to be elevated or ennobled, in a moral sense.

   On no occasion does he [Paul] loom so high, and shine so gloriously, as in the context.

3. To become imminent; to impend.

1. The state of looming; esp., an unnatural and indistinct appearance of elevation or enlargement of anything, as of land or of a ship, seen by one at sea.