A piece of machinery used to weave thread into cloth. Usually strictly mechanical in nature, and hand powered to boot.
Also a truly classic game released by Brian Moriarty (former Implementor at Infocom) and Lucasarts. Notable among adventure games for a lack of inventory, four-note spells called drafts that did everything in the game, and an original storyline.
If you are stuck in Loom, remember : try turning the draft backwards...