loaf

1. (also loaf of bread) A block of bread after baking.Examples: "Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack."

2. (Cockney rhyming slang) Ellipsis of loaf of bread: the brain or the head.Examples: "use one's loaf"; "It is frequently said of Bertram Wooster that he is a man who can think on his feet, and if the necessity arises he can also use his loaf when on all fours. [...] “Why didn't the idiot tell her not to open it?” “It was his first move. ‘I've found a letter from you here, precious,’ she said. ‘On no account open it, angel,’ he said. So of course she opened it.” She pursed the lips, nodded the loaf, and ate a moody piece of crumpet. “So that's why he's been going about looking like a dead fish.”"Synonyms: bonce, noddle, nut, bean, beaner, belfry, block, bonceCockneyabbreviationalt-ofellipsisslang

3. (cellular automata) A particular still life configuration with seven living cells.Examples: "It runs for 17331 generations before stabilizing as 136 blinkers, 109 blocks, 65 beehives, 18 loaves, 18 boats, 7 ships, 4 tubs, 3 ponds, 2 toads, and 40 gliders."; "Running a LWSS into it can produce various debris. One of these reactions produces a loaf. When the loaf is properly hit with other LWSSs, it can be pulled backwards."; "I am looking for the smallest ancestor of the following four loaf pattern in Conway's Game of Life:"

4. (informal, slang) A catloaf.informalslang