Meaning

4 senses

  1. (intransitive)To shake due to being trimmed improperly.

  2. (intransitive)To bring the ship's head up closer to the wind. (Alternatively luff up)

  3. (transitive)To let out (a sail) so that it luffs.

    sail close to the wind

  4. To alter the vertical angle of the jib of a crane so as to bring it level with the load.

Origin

From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derive

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.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

luffs, luffing, luffed, luffed
Base formluff · to luff
3rd person singularluffs
Present participleluffing
Past simpleluffed
Past participleluffed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyluff
he, she, itluffs

Past simpleLesson

all personsluffed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave luffed
he, she, ithas luffed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill luff

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • sail close to the wind:point

Word family

2 related words
Derivedluff tackleluff up

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
luckyA1lucrativeB2ludicrousC1lugluggageB1lukewarm
luff — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto