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lose - What does it mean?

Definition of 'lose'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) losen, from (etyl) .

Verb

  • To cause (something) to cease to be in one's possession or capability due to unfortunate or unknown circumstances, events or reasons.
  • * {{quote-book|year=1963|author=(Margery Allingham)|title=(The China Governess)
  • |chapter=19 citation |passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost , by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
  • * {{quote-news|year=2011|date=April 15|author=Saj Chowdhury|work=BBC Sport
  • |title= Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest |passage=Forest, who lost striker Kris Boyd to injury seconds before half-time, produced little after the break, with a Tyson sliced shot from 12 yards their only opportunity of note.}}
  • To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
  • I lost my way in the forest.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He hath lost his fellows.
  • To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.
  • To fail to win (a game, competition, trial, etc).
  • * Dryden
  • I fought the battle bravely which I lost , / And lost it but to Macedonians.
  • To shed (weight).
  • To experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend).
  • To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer.
  • To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.
  • (informal) To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.
  • Of a clock, to run slower than expected.
  • To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.
  • * Baxter
  • O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory.
  • * 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, p. 556:
  • This lost Catholicism any semblance of a claim to special status, and also highlighted the gains which other religious formations had derived from the Revolution.
  • To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
  • I lost a part of what he said.
  • (archaic) To cause to part with; to deprive of.
  • * Sir W. Temple
  • How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?
    Usage notes
    * Do not confuse lose with loose .
    Synonyms
    * (sense, cause to cease to be in one's possession) leave behind, mislay * * drop, shed * * * ditch, drop, dump, get rid of, jettison * * (last)
    Antonyms
    * (sense, cause to cease to be in one's possession) come across, discover, find, gain, acquire, procure, get, pick up, snag * win * gain, put on * * find * pick up * (fail to be the winner) come first, win
    Derived terms
    * lose heart * lose it * lose one's cool * lose one's head * lose one's life (rel-mid3) * lose one's lunch * lose one's marbles * lose one's mind * lose one's patience * lose one's rag (rel-mid3) * lose one's temper * lose one's way * lose out * lose patience * lose time * no love lost (rel-bottom)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (los), (loos), from (etyl) .

    Noun

  • (obsolete) Fame, renown; praise.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.12:
  • That much he feared least reprochfull blame / With foule dishonour him mote blot therefore; / Besides the losse of so much loos and fame […].