loom

[[t]lu͟ːm[/t]]

looms, looming, loomed

1) VERB If something looms over you, it appears as a large or unclear shape, often in a frightening way.

[V prep/adv] Vincent loomed over me, as pale and grey as a tombstone.

[V prep/adv] ...the bleak mountains that loomed out of the blackness and towered around us. [Also V]

2) VERB If a worrying or threatening situation or event is looming, it seems likely to happen soon. [JOURNALISM]

Another government spending crisis is looming in the United States...

[V adv/prep] The threat of renewed civil war looms ahead.

[V-ing] ...the looming threat of recession.

3) PHRASE: V inflects If something, especially a problem or worry looms large, it occupies a lot of your thoughts and seems important.

...the terrible problem of armed crime now looming large in our society...

As such tensions increase, they loom larger in Russia's domestic politics.

4) N-COUNT A loom is a machine that is used for weaving thread into cloth.

Phrasal Verbs:

- loom up