aloft

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Related to aloft: winds aloft

a·loft

(ə-lôft′, ə-lŏft′)

adv.

1. In or into a high place; high or higher up: The balloon was drifting aloft on the wind.

2. Up in or into the air: The plane was quickly aloft.

3. Nautical At or toward the upper rigging.

prep.

On or above: birds perching aloft telephone wires.

[Middle English, from Old Norse ā lopt : ā, in; see an- in Indo-European roots + lopt, air.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

aloft

(əˈlɒft)

adv, adj (postpositive)

1. in or into a high or higher place; up above

2. (Nautical Terms) nautical in or into the rigging of a vessel

[C12: from Old Norse ā lopt in the air; see lift¹, loft]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•loft

(əˈlɔft, əˈlɒft)

adv.

1. high up; far above the ground.

2. on the masts; in the rigging or upper rigging.

3. in or into the air.

prep.

4. on or at the top of: flags flying aloft the castle.

[1150–1200; Middle English o loft < Old Norse ā lopt in the air; see a-¹, loft]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adv.	1.	aloft - at or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship; "climbed aloft to unfurl the sail"
	2.	aloft - upward; "the good news sent her spirits aloft"
	3.	aloft - at or to great height; high up in or into the air; "eagles were soaring aloft"; "dust is whirled aloft"
	4.	aloft - in the higher atmosphere above the earth; "weather conditions aloft are fine"

aloft

adjective

1. in the air, up, higher, above, overhead, in the sky, on high, high up, up above Four of the nine balloons were still aloft the next day.

adverb

1. upward, skyward, heavenward He lifted the cup aloft.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

عَالِيَاً، مُرْتَفِعاً

ve vzduchuvysoko nahoře

højt hævethøjt oppe

nach oben oben

en l'air

hátt uppi, ofar jörîu

in aria

augšāaugšup

høyt opp i været

yukarıyukarıda

高高地

aloft

[əˈlɒft] ADV (liter) (= above) → arriba; (= upward) → hacia arriba (Naut) → en or a la arboladura

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

aloft

[əˈlɒft] adv

(= in the air) → en l'air

(NAUTICAL, NAVAL) → dans la mâture

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

aloft

adv (= into the air) → empor; (= in the air) → hoch droben; (Naut) → oben in der Takelung; to go aloft (Naut) → in die Takelung hinaufklettern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

aloft

[əˈlɒft] adv → in alto (Naut) → sull'alberatura

aloft

(əˈloft) adverb

high up; overhead. He held the banner aloft.

References in classic literature ?

Aloft will it build itself with columns and stairs--life itself: into remote distances would it gaze, and out towards blissful beauties-- THEREFORE doth it require elevation!

Here where the tarantula's den is, riseth aloft an ancient temple's ruins--just behold it with enlightened eyes!

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The tall masts holding aloft the white canvas, spread out like a snare for catching the invisible power of the air, emerge gradually from the water, sail after sail, yard after yard, growing big, till, under the towering structure of her machinery, you perceive the insignificant, tiny speck of her hull.

Such an experience gives you a better impression of the loftiness of your spars than any amount of running aloft could do.

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I had passed the forest, and had come, as it were, to the legs of the old stone Witch who sits up aloft there forever waiting for the world to die.

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Great Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main-mast in Baltimore, and like one of Hercules' pillars, his column marks that point of human grandeur beyond which few mortals will go.

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The season for the Line at length drew near; and every day when Ahab, coming from his cabin, cast his eyes aloft, the vigilant helmsman would ostentatiously handle his spokes, and the eager mariners quickly run to the braces, and would stand there with all their eyes centrally fixed on the nailed doubloon; impatient for the order to point the ship's prow for the equator.

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Let me pause for a minute to look out over the sea sparkling in the sun, or to gaze at a sailor going aloft to the gaff-topsails, or running out the bowsprit, and I am sure to hear the hateful voice, "'Ere, you, 'Ump, no sodgerin'.

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AN EAGLE, flying down from his perch on a lofty rock, seized upon a lamb and carried him aloft in his talons.

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Not otherwise than when a kite, tremendous bird, is beheld by the feathered generation soaring aloft, and hovering over their heads, the amorous dove, and every innocent little bird, spread wide the alarm, and fly trembling to their hiding-places.

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This invaluable fruit, brought to perfection by the rich soil of the Marquesas, and home aloft on a stately column more than a hundred feet from the ground, would seem at first almost inaccessible to the simple natives.

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Young Partington poured forth the bright yellow wine and holding the glass aloft, cried, "Here is to the health and long happiness of my royal mistress, the noble Queen Eleanor; and may my journey and her desirings soon have end, and I find a certain stout yeoman men call Robin Hood."