luffer

English

Noun

luffer (plural luffers)

1. (architecture) Alternative form of louver
   • 1833, An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture, page 269:

     These luffer boards are either fixed, or turn on pivots in the styles of their frames; their action, in the latter case, being like that of the common Venetian blinds.

   • 1845, Robert Stuart, On the History and Art of Warming and Ventilating Rooms and Buildings, page 151:

     In the section, the third luffer is supposed to be open; when the lower luffer plate is taken out, the apparatus is to all intents and purposes a Staffordshire grate.

   • 2017, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art:

     Functional and symbolic values coincide; if there rises a column of smoke to the luffer above, this is not merely a convenience, but also a representation of the axis of the universe that pillars-apart heaven and earth, essence and nature, and is itself although without dimensions or consistency the adamantine principle and exemplary form of temporal and spatial extension and of all things situated in time or space.

   • 2020, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Rama P. Coomaraswamy, The Door in the Sky: Coomaraswamy on Myth and Meaning, page 18:

     We meet again with a pair of annular symbols, of which the one is a perforated disk representing the Earth (Holmberg, "Der Baum des Lebens," fig 13), and the other the luffer above the central hearth of the yurt, which is also the opening in the roof of a hypaethral temple, through which passes the stem of the Worldtree to branch above.

2. A type of crane or derrick that was historically used in shipbuilding and repair.
   • 1903, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Sessional Papers - Volume 8, page 100:

     Four of the hydraulic cranes are luffer cranes, one has a radius of 70 feet, two of 60 feet, and one of 46 feet, and these luffer cranes are of the greatest possible value, as it allows of the simultaneous discharge of the ship on the shore.

   • 1912, The Painter and Decorator - Volume 26, page 327:

     The Scotch luffer, or, more properly, the Scotchman, is, we were told, a great derrick whose introduction has thrown many men out of employment.

   • 1988, James R. Snitzler, Ernst G. Frankel, Brian M. McGregor, Far East Port Survey, page 98:

     There are two level luffer cranes, one with a 35-ton capacity and the other with a 125-ton capacity, at a reach of 30 meters, equipped with fixed 20-foot and 40-foot spreaders.

3. (sailing, yacht racing) One who luffs (sails close to the wind) in order to threaten a windward opponent.
   • 1975, Yacht Racing - Volume 14, page 38:

     So even if the luffer to leeward does react quickly enough in the stopping of his boat, he'll also have to start going bacckwards to prevent you breaking away and going for the mark ahead of him.

   • 2013, Eric Twiname, Start to Win, page 107:

     The obsessive luffer seems to want a threat to windward for the sheer pleasure of upholding the right to luff, even though a luff almost always costs more places than it saves.

   • 2018, Nick Craig, Tactics to Win:

     Some lost places at training events are worthwhile to enhance your reputation as a luffer—you can buy the poor windward boat a beer later!

Anagrams

• Fulfer, ruffle

Middle English

Noun

luffer

1. Alternative form of lovere (“friend, lover”)