aloft adv

1 at or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship; "climbed aloft to unfurl the sail"

2 upward; "the good news sent her spirits aloft"

3 at or to great height; high up in or into the air; "eagles were soaring aloft"; "dust is whirled aloft"

4 in the higher atmosphere above the earth; "weather conditions aloft are fine"

English

Pronunciation

• ə-lôft', /əˈlɔːft/, /@"lO:ft/

  Rhymes: -ɔːft

• ə-lŏft', /əˈlɒft/, /@"lQft/

  Rhymes: -ɒft

Etymology

From Old Norse á lopti "in the sky"

Adverb

aloft

1. above, overhead, in a high place
   • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     Someone's turned the chest out alow and aloft.

   • 1954: William Golding, Lord of the Flies

     He noticed that he still held the knife aloft and brought his arm down, replacing the blade in the sheath.

2. in the top, at the mast head
   • 1859: James Fenimore Cooper, The Red Rover: A Tale

     I think you said something converning the manner in which yonder ship has anchored, and of the condition they keep things alow and aloft?

Translations

Noun

aloft

1. anywhere about the upper yards, masts and rigging of a ship

Related terms

• loft
• lofty

See also

• alow

Anagrams

• float

References

aboard, above, abovestairs, afloat, airward, all aboard, aloof, athwart the hawse, athwarthawse, aye, before the mast, high, high up, in flight, in sail, in the air, in the clouds, on board, on board ship, on deck, on high, on shipboard, on stilts, on the peak, on tiptoe, over, overhead, skyward, straight up, tiptoe, to the zenith, topside, up, upstairs, upward, upwards