Luffa

·add. ·noun Any plant of this genus, or its fruit.

II. Luffa ·add. ·noun The fibrous skeleton of the fruit, used as a sponge and in the manufacture of caps and women's hats;

— written also loofah.

III. Luffa ·add. ·noun A small genus of tropical cucurbitaceous plants having white flowers, the staminate borne in racemes, and large fruits with a dry fibrous pericarp. The fruit of several species and the species themselves, ·esp. L. Aegyptiaca, are called dishcloth gourds.