▪ I. lofting, vbl. n.
(ˈlɒftɪŋ, -ɔː-)
[f. loft n. or v. + -ing1.]
1. concr. A roofing, ceiling, or flooring. Obs. exc. dial. and in Mining.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 388 Quhen ony preis of horsmen come aboue the said fowseis the lofting suld brek. 1603 Owen Pembrokesh. (1891) 76 Tymber to serve for loftinges and roffes. 1640–1 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 66 That the sklait roofe of the hows and batlement thairof be taken downe with the lofting thairof. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 35 Lofting, wood..placed upon the top of the ordinary balks or crowntrees used in timbering through a fallen place, for the purpose of keeping up the loose stones. |
2. Golf. The action of the vb. loft (sense 3).
| 1895 Westm. Gaz. 4 Feb. 8/2 Golfers who can skate should be proficient at bandy, in which lofting is a most desirable accomplishment. |
3. Aeronaut. The action of a loftsman.
| 1939 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIII. 140, I should like to mention two or three operations coming under the control of the engineering department... One of these is the mould loft. The art of lofting as it is now generally followed in American aircraft production was, of course, borrowed from the ship-building industry. 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 304/1 Lofting, as applied to airplanes, the act or process of laying out full-size drawings of an airplane that is to be built, of designing and making templates, etc. 1972 Lebende Sprachen XVII. 73/2 The production of aircraft part drawings, preparation of magnetic tape for machine-tool control, and many lofting, drawing and checking jobs are to be automated. |
4. attrib. and Comb.: lofting-iron, a golf-club used to loft a ball.
| 1887 W. G. Simpson Golf 22 Lofting irons are more light-headed. 1892 Century Mag. Aug. 606 The approach should always be a lofting-stroke. |
Add: [4.] lofting pole, in pigeon-shooting, a pole used for placing decoys in trees, etc. (cf. *lofter n.2).
| 1964 C. L. Coles Shooting Pigeons viii. 60 A rubber pigeon mounted on the top of wooden *lofting poles. 1987 Shooting Mag. Mar. 34/3 The kit takes its name from an ingeniously designed set of light alloy tubes which, using the metal collars supplied, can be fitted together to make a lofting pole tall enough to place a decoy some 25 ft. up in a tree. |
▪ II. lofting, ppl. a.
(ˈlɒftɪŋ)
[f. loft v. + -ing2.]
Of a stroke in golf: that lofts.
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 25 Aug. 3/1 Why to go for a low-running shot or for a high lofting shot, respectively. |