LOOM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does loom mean? 

• LOOM (noun)
  The noun LOOM has 1 sense:

1. a textile machine for weaving yarn into a textile

  Familiarity information: LOOM used as a noun is very rare.

• LOOM (verb)
  The verb LOOM has 4 senses:

1. come into view indistinctly, often threateningly

2. appear very large or occupy a commanding position

3. hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing

4. weave on a loom

  Familiarity information: LOOM used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOOM (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)

• LOOM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they loom    ... he / she / it looms   
Past simple: loomed   
Past participle: loomed   
-ing form: looming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come into view indistinctly, often threateningly

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

Another air plane loomed into the sky

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 2

Meaning:

Appear very large or occupy a commanding position

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hulk; loom; predominate; tower

Context example:

Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall

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

lift; rear; rise (rise up)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

brood; bulk large; hover; loom

Context example:

The terrible vision brooded over her all day long

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Weave on a loom

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

materials loomed in Egypt

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

 Context examples 

But after that he was afraid no more of the looming bulks of the tepees.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Now and then great shadows loomed up for an instant and were gone—great, silent shadows which seemed to prowl upon padded feet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From the Monday to the Thursday I doubt whether it was ever possible from our windows in Baker Street to see the loom of the opposite houses.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the south-west, and almost in our course, I saw the pyramidal loom of some vessel’s sails.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

My heart beat as I saw the house on which so much of our hope was centred, looming up grim and silent in its deserted condition amongst its more lively and spruce-looking neighbours.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A thick fog rolled down between the lines of dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths.

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

It was hard to believe that these were the same walls which loomed so gloomily through the fogs of winter.

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

But the world would have puzzled over his bepuzzlement rather than over the little thing that to him loomed gigantic.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

See how yonder headland looms upon us through the mist!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Heavy steps ploughed their way through the soft gravel, and a broad figure loomed upon us in the darkness.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)