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The spongelike fibers of the fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Luffa Ægyptiaca); called also vegetable sponge.

from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away. Our palace stood aloof from streets. Dryden.

State of being aloof. Rogers (1642). The . . . aloofness of his dim forest life. Thoreau.

A glen; a ravine closed at its upper end. [South Africa]

A standing aloof. [Obs.]

To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from. Not a few abstained from voting. Macaulay. Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt Shak.

The act of abstaining; a holding aloof. Jer. Taylor.

o one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime. With a crafty madness keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state. Shak.

the observer. It is the complement of the altitude. -- To keep one's distance, to stand aloof; to refrain from familiarity. If a man makes keep my distance, the comfort is he keeps his at the same time. Swift.

fruit, used as a sponge and in the manufacture of caps and women's hats; -- written also loofah.

To keep one's self from action or interference; to hold aloof; to forbear; to abstain. Refrain from these men, and let them alone. Acts v. 38. They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time after. Sir T. Browne.

To go back or return; to draw back or away; to keep aloof; to withdraw or retreat, as from observation; to go into privacy; as, to retire to his home; to retire from the world, or from notice. To Una back he cast him to retire. Spenser. The mind contracts herself, and shrinketh in, And to herself she gladly doth retire…

too brave a man to throw up the sponge to fate." Lowell. -- Vegetable sponge. (Bot.) See Loof. -- Velvet sponge, a fine, soft commercial sponge (Spongia equina, variety meandriniformis) found in Florida and the West Indies. -- Vitreous sponge. See Glass-sponge. -- Yellow sponge, a common and valuable commercial spo…