lose
Americanverb (used with object)
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loses,
present (3rd person singular)
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lost,
past participle, past
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losing
present participle
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to come to be without (something in one's possession or care), through accident, theft, etc., so that there is little or no prospect of recovery.
I'm sure I've merely misplaced my hat, not lost it.
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to fail inadvertently to retain (something) in such a way that it cannot be immediately recovered.
I just lost a dime under this sofa.
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to suffer the deprivation of.
to lose one's job; to lose one's life.
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to be bereaved of by death.
to lose a sister.
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to fail to keep, preserve, or maintain.
to lose one's balance; to lose one's figure.
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(of a clock or watch) to run slower by.
The watch loses three minutes a day.
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to give up; forfeit the possession of.
to lose a fortune at the gaming table.
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to get rid of.
to lose one's fear of the dark; to lose weight; She needs to lose those bangs!
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to bring to destruction or ruin (usually used passively).
Ship and crew were lost.
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to condemn to hell; damn.
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to have slip from sight, hearing, attention, etc..
to lose him in the crowd.
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to stray from or become ignorant of (one's way, directions, etc.).
to lose one's bearings.
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to leave far behind in a pursuit, race, etc.; outstrip.
She managed to lose the other runners on the final lap of the race.
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to use to no purpose; waste.
to lose time in waiting.
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to fail to get or take advantage of; miss.
to lose an opportunity.
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to fail to win (a prize, stake, etc.).
to lose a bet.
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to be defeated in (a game, lawsuit, battle, etc.).
He has lost very few cases in his career as a lawyer.
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to cause the loss of.
The delay lost the battle for them.
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to let (oneself) go astray, miss the way, etc..
We lost ourselves in the woods.
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to allow (oneself) to become absorbed or engrossed in something and oblivious to all else.
I had lost myself in thought.
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(of a physician or other medical personnel) to fail to preserve the life of (a patient).
The doctor came out of the operating room and sadly said, “So sorry. We lost him.”
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(of a woman) to fail to be delivered of (a live baby) because of miscarriage, complications in childbirth, etc.
verb (used without object)
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loses,
present (3rd person singular)
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lost,
past participle, past
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losing
present participle
-
to suffer loss.
to lose on a contract.
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to suffer defeat or fail to win, as in a contest, race, or game.
We played well, but we lost.
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to depreciate in effectiveness or in some other essential quality.
a classic that loses in translation.
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(of a clock, watch, etc.) to run slow.
verb phrase
idioms
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lose face. face.
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lose it, to suddenly lose control of one's emotions.
When he said he loved me, I nearly lost it.
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lose something in translation. see lose in translation.
verb
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to part with or come to be without, as through theft, accident, negligence, etc
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to fail to keep or maintain
to lose one's balance
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to suffer the loss or deprivation of
to lose a parent
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to cease to have or possess
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to fail to get or make use of
to lose a chance
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(also intr) to fail to gain or win (a contest, game, etc)
to lose the match
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to fail to see, hear, perceive, or understand
I lost the gist of his speech
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to waste
to lose money gambling
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to wander from so as to be unable to find
to lose one's way
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to cause the loss of
his delay lost him the battle
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to allow to go astray or out of sight
we lost him in the crowd
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(usually passive) to absorb or engross
he was lost in contemplation
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(usually passive) to cause the death or destruction of
two men were lost in the attack
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to outdistance or elude
he soon lost his pursuers
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(intr) to decrease or depreciate in value or effectiveness
poetry always loses in translation
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(also intr) (of a timepiece) to run slow (by a specified amount)
the clock loses ten minutes every day
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(of a physician) to fail to sustain the life of (a patient)
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(of a woman) to fail to give birth to (a viable baby), esp as the result of a miscarriage
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slang motor racing to lose control of (the car), as on a bend
he lost it going into Woodcote
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slang to lose control of oneself or one's temper
Usage
What's the difference between lose and loose? Lose is a verb most commonly meaning to fail to win or to misplace something, as in I hate to lose in chess or Don’t lose your key. Loose is most commonly used as an adjective meaning not tight or free or released from fastening, attachment, or restraint, as in a loose screw or Let him loose! Lose ends with a z sound and rhymes with choose. Loose ends with an s sound and rhymes with moose. One reason that the two words are sometimes confused is that loose can also be used as a verb, most commonly meaning to free something from a restraint, as in loose the cannons! Perhaps the most common misuse of these words is when loose is used when lose should be. To remember the difference, remember this sentence: You could lose loose screws. (First comes the verb lose, with one o, followed by the adjective loose, with two o’s). Here’s an example of lose and loose used correctly in a sentence. Example: If you carry around loose cash, you could lose it—put it in your wallet. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between lose and loose.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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losesimple
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losessimple
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have lostperfect
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has lostperfect
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am losingprogressive
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are losingprogressive
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is losingprogressive
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have been losingperfect progressive
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has been losingperfect progressive
Past
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lostsimple
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had lostperfect
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was losingprogressive
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were losingprogressive
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had been losingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lose
First recorded in before 900; Middle English losen, Old English -lēosan; replacing Middle English lesen, itself also reflecting Old English -lēosan; cognate with German verlieren, Gothic fraliusan “to lose”; see loss
Explanation
The verb to lose means something has gone missing. Maybe it's your car keys. Maybe it's points in a game. Maybe it's the love of your life. Sorry about that. You can physically lose something by misplacing it, or you can lose your pride in a competition. You can lose a game, you can lose your library book, you can lose money, you can lose your business, you can lose sight of your child, you can even lose your mind — basically, you can lose just about anything. Losing something is usually not a good thing, unless it's that annoying boyfriend or weight.
Vocabulary lists containing lose
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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Commonly Confused Words, List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It's a vital income for Abu Mudif to lose of course, but it goes deeper than that for him.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Yet in their rush to destroy the old guard, Weiss and Ellison have overlooked the fact that they left behind an elite corps of unemployed, highly motivated investigative journalists with nothing left to lose.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
So why, in spite of those remarks, did he lose a Republican primary in Tennessee?
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
At room temperature, phonons generally scatter more frequently and quickly lose the coherence needed for wave-based transport, causing heat to spread through ordinary diffusion.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Moving slowly so as not to lose his balance, Jonathan reached over his shoulder and opened the backpack.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
I’d rather play on that side than bet on who wins and who loses on the software side.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Lumber prices have risen this summer to their highest level in four years, even as home sales slump and renovation spending loses steam, the WSJ’s Ryan Dezember writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Further spikes of heat are likely, however as August wears on and the sun gradually loses some of its intensity, the likelihood of extreme temperatures in the high 30s lessens.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Kiki, however, lives in a world that sees magic as part of the natural order, which plunges her into an existential crisis when she loses hers.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The first team to miss coming up with a response loses.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
"This family lost their daughter. I came to support the mother" who lost her child too soon, she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
The Australian government's official extinctions list sits at 67, but researchers are confident at least 100 plant and animal species have been lost forever.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
In an effort to recoup what they’ve lost, they took to the fundraising platform GoFundMe to raise approximately $28,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
We then lost steam, leaving a lingering sense of dread over the unfinished business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Before long a steady stream of guests was winding up the narrow staircase to Tante Jans’s rooms where he sat almost lost in a thicket of flowers.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
People reported losing $3.5 billion to impostor scams in 2025, nearly triple 2020’s level, the Federal Trade Commission said in a June report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Despite losing that bellwether, Meta continued to press the DSM argument in its filings in federal court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
These are now a daily staple for 23-year-old Monique Wellman-Mason from Bristol, who grew tired of losing her wireless earbuds.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
SpaceX is on pace to snap a four-week losing streak.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
But what if instead of telling the tourists a bunch of polar bear facts, he also talked about the melting ice and the crumbling permafrost and the momma bears losing their dens?
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
