(pl. loaves)
1- a quantity of bread that is shaped and baked in one piece and usually sliced before being eaten（通常需在食前切成片的）大面包：
a loaf of bread
一个大面包
a granary loaf.
一个全麦面包。
1.1
- usu. with modifier a quantity of other food formed into a particular shape, and often sliced into portions（食物）一大块。
短语
half a loaf is better than no bread
- proverb it is better to accept less than one wants or expects than to have nothing at all〈谚〉有总比没有好（或： 聊胜于无）。
use one's loaf
- Brit. informal use one's common sense〈英, 非正式〉用理智判断。
- ORIGIN: probably from loaf of bread, rhyming slang for 'head'
词源
Old English hlāf, of Germanic origin; related to German Laib.