loafer
An idle personAn idle person.
» Tom is light in the loafers.
Meaning
4 sensesAn idle person.
Faulpelz, Faulenzer, Bummler
безде́льникbezdélʹnik, безде́льницаbezdélʹnica, ло́дырьlódyrʹ
person who does no work
A shoe with no laces, resembling a moccasin.
A particular orthogonal spaceship in Conway's Game of Life that moves at a speed of c/7, and the smallest such example.
(Southwestern, US, dialectal)A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.
Examples
3 sentencesTom is light in the loafers.
Will you wear loafers to the office?
Women in full dress, pressmen, policemen, loafers, were pouring out and rushing in to Mr. Rohscheimer's residence!
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (comparePerhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or more likely connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English lāf (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English lǣfan (“to let remain, leave behind”) (more at leave).
Named due to having a loaf in several of its stages.
Borrowed from Spanish lobo (“wolf”), reinterpreted as or conflated with loafer (“idler”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations. Doublet of lupus and wolf.
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