loom

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loom Frame or set of frames on which threads are woven into cloth. The loom enables a set of threads, called the weft, to be passed over and under a set of lengthwise threads, called the warp. The simplest kind of loom is a single frame on which weaving is done by hand. Such looms have been used for more than 7000 years. In 1785, Edmund Cartwright invented a loom powered by a steam engine to speed cloth production. Today, most advanced commercial looms are computer-controlled and have mechanisms that thread the weft through the warp at speeds of c.100km/h (60mph).

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