Loofs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A plural form referring to rounded or curved body parts such as backs or loins ; pieces of porous material used for washing or scrubbing the skin ; informal or dialectal variant referring to hands or palms as physical body parts
2. Denoting multiple curved anatomical regions of the body ; fibrous sponges derived from plant sources for cleansing the skin ; colloquial term for the backs of the hands in certain dialects
3. Used to describe several curved or rounded portions of the body ; natural scrubbing materials obtained from dried plant fibers ; familiar expression for the palms or hands in some vernacular speech

Etymology: The bath sponge takes its name from Egyptian Arabic "lūf", which English borrowed for the dried, fibrous interior of a gourd used for scrubbing. "Loofs" is simply the plural of "loof", the form the English word took in this sense. English already had two other words spelled "loof", and neither has anything to do with washing. One, from Old Norse "lófi", meant the palm of the hand, and it passed into Middle English as "love" or "lufe". The other, from Middle Dutch "loef", was a paddle or oar used to steer a ship. Both descend from a Proto-Germanic word meaning palm or paddle blade, but the sponge arrived from a different language entirely, so the match in spelling is a coincidence.

Synonyms: loofahs, sponges