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Lose
Definitions
- 1 A surname from German.
- 1 Alternative form of loos (“praise; fame; reputation”). alt-of, alternative, uncountable
- 1 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. transitive
"If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry."
- 2 be set at a disadvantage wordnet
- 3 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.; To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident. transitive
"Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy."
- 4 withdraw, as from reality wordnet
- 5 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.; To shed (weight). transitive
"I’ve lost five pounds this week."
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 fail to win wordnet
- 7 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.; To experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend). transitive
"She lost all her sons in the war."
- 8 suffer the loss of a person through death or removal wordnet
- 9 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.; To pay or owe (some wager) due from an unsuccessful bet or gamble. transitive
"Frank had lost $500 staying in Vegas."
- 10 fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind wordnet
- 11 To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.; To be deprived of (some right or privileged access to something). transitive
"Users who engage in disruptive behavior may lose their accounts."
- 12 allow to go out of sight or mind wordnet
- 13 To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from. transitive
"I lost my way in the forest."
- 14 miss from one's possessions; lose sight of wordnet
- 15 To become a defeated competitor in (a game, competition, trial, etc). transitive
"We lost the football match."
- 16 fail to keep or maintain (of a state) wordnet
- 17 To be defeated (in a game, competition, contest, etc.) intransitive
"The team scored four goals but still managed to lose."
- 18 fail to get or obtain wordnet
- 19 To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer. transitive
"The policeman lost the robber he was chasing."
- 20 fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit wordnet
- 21 To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer. transitive
"lose the cops"
- 22 To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion). transitive
"I can see Mickie getting hot, I'm about to grab his arm, hold him back, say, Whoa, whoa, Mick, not here, it ain't worth it what happened inside just now. But I don't need to because Mickie loses his anger, starts smiling at ponytail, then melodramatically starts looking around at the men and women on the street going in and out of the courthouse."
- 23 To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate. informal, transitive
"When we get into the building, please lose the hat."
- 24 Of a clock, to run slower than expected. transitive
"My watch loses five minutes a week."
- 25 To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of. ditransitive
"O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory."
- 26 To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss. transitive
"I lost a part of what he said."
Etymology
From Middle English losen, from Old English losian, from Proto-West Germanic *losōn, from Proto-Germanic *lusōną, *luzōną, from Proto-Germanic *lusą. The modern pronunciation with /uː/ (instead of the /oʊ~əʊ/ that would be expected from Early Modern /ɔː/) is due to conflation with loose.
* As a north/Low German surname, from a pet form of Lodewig, Ludwig. * As a south German surname, from a pet from of Nikolaus.
See also for "lose"
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