lose

[looz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lose ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), lost, los·ing.

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.

to fail inadvertently to retain (something) in such a way that it cannot be immediately recovered: I just lost a dime under this sofa.

to suffer the deprivation of: to lose one's job; to lose one's life.

to be bereaved of by death: to lose a sister.

to fail to keep, preserve, or maintain: to lose one's balance; to lose one's figure.

(of a clock or watch) to run slower by: The watch loses three minutes a day.

to give up; forfeit the possession of: to lose a fortune at the gaming table.

to get rid of: to lose one's fear of the dark; to lose weight; She needs to lose those bangs!

to bring to destruction or ruin (usually used passively): Ship and crew were lost.

to condemn to hell; damn.

to have slip from sight, hearing, attention, etc.: to lose him in the crowd.

to stray from or become ignorant of (one's way, directions, etc.): to lose one's bearings.

to leave far behind in a pursuit, race, etc.; outstrip: She managed to lose the other runners on the final lap of the race.

to use to no purpose; waste: to lose time in waiting.

to fail to have, get, catch, etc.; miss: to lose a bargain.

to fail to win (a prize, stake, etc.): to lose a bet.

to be defeated in (a game, lawsuit, battle, etc.): He has lost very few cases in his career as a lawyer.

to cause the loss of: The delay lost the battle for them.

to let (oneself) go astray, miss the way, etc.: We lost ourselves in the woods.

to allow (oneself) to become absorbed or engrossed in something and oblivious to all else: I had lost myself in thought.

(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.”

(of a woman) to fail to be delivered of (a live baby) because of miscarriage, complications in childbirth, etc.

verb (used without object), lost, los·ing.

to suffer loss: to lose on a contract.

to suffer defeat or fail to win, as in a contest, race, or game: We played well, but we lost.

to depreciate in effectiveness or in some other essential quality: a classic that loses in translation.

(of a clock, watch, etc.) to run slow.

Verb Phrases

lose out, to suffer defeat or loss; fail to obtain something desired: He got through the preliminaries, but lost out in the finals.

Idioms

lose face. face(def 51).

lose it, Informal. to suddenly lose control of one's emotions: When he said he loved me, I nearly lost it.

Origin of lose

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

Related formsre·lose, verb (used with object), re·lost, re·los·ing.

Can be confusedloose loosen lose loss

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lose

suffer, squander, drop, fail, waste, surrender, forget, decline, fall, bereave, consume, forfeit, misplace, lavish, deplete, miss, capitulate, dissipate, rob, exhaust

Examples from the Web for lose

Contemporary Examples of lose

A lot of people ring in the New Year with vows to lose weight and exercise.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models
Carrie Arnold
January 8, 2015
The problem, says UC Davis physiologist and nutritionist Linda Bacon, is that very few people can lose weight and keep it off.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail
Carrie Arnold
December 30, 2014
“I guess it was their first incident where they lose a plane,” said Dobersberger, the travel agent.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370
Lennox Samuels
December 29, 2014
You lose connectivity between portions of your brain, and some regions even experience shrinkage, according to Williams.
Running 15 Miles a Week Could Slash Alzheimer’s Risk
DailyBurn
December 12, 2014
Instead, Washington, who famously proclaimed “What brave men I must this day lose!”
The British Royals Reinvade Brooklyn: William and Kate Come Watch Basketball on Historic Battle Site
Justin Jones
December 6, 2014

Historical Examples of lose

After all, what vast privileges do you lose with your citizenship.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Do this up to the limit of your capital and I will make good anything you lose.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Then all I can say is, that when you lose it you'll be in a bad pickle.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
He had become so wedded to his gold that to lose it was like losing his heart's blood.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
He feared now she meant to lose it irrevocably through remarriage.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for lose

lose

verb loses, losing or lost (mainly tr)

to part with or come to be without, as through theft, accident, negligence, etc

to fail to keep or maintainto lose one's balance

to suffer the loss or deprivation ofto lose a parent

to cease to have or possess

to fail to get or make use ofto lose a chance

(also intr) to fail to gain or win (a contest, game, etc)to lose the match

to fail to see, hear, perceive, or understandI lost the gist of his speech

to wasteto lose money gambling

to wander from so as to be unable to findto lose one's way

to cause the loss ofhis delay lost him the battle

to allow to go astray or out of sightwe lost him in the crowd

(usually passive) to absorb or engrosshe was lost in contemplation

(usually passive) to cause the death or destruction oftwo men were lost in the attack

to outdistance or eludehe soon lost his pursuers

(intr) to decrease or depreciate in value or effectivenesspoetry always loses in translation

(also intr) (of a timepiece) to run slow (by a specified amount)the clock loses ten minutes every day

(of a physician) to fail to sustain the life of (a patient)

(of a woman) to fail to give birth to (a viable baby), esp as the result of a miscarriage

motor racing slang to lose control of (the car), as on a bendhe lost it going into Woodcote

lose it slang to lose control of oneself or one's temper

Derived Formslosable, adjectivelosableness, noun

Word Origin for lose

Old English losian to perish; related to Old English -lēosan as in forlēosan to forfeit. Compare loose

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lose

Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (cf. Old Norse los "the breaking up of an army;" Old English forleosan "to lose, destroy," Old Frisian forliasa, Old Saxon farliosan, Middle Dutch verliesen, Old High German firliosan, German verlieren), from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart, untie, separate" (cf. Sanskrit lunati "cuts, cuts off," lavitram "sickle;" Greek lyein "to loosen, untie, slacken," lysus "a loosening;" Latin luere "to loose, release, atone for, expiate").

Replaced related leosan (a class II strong verb whose past participle loren survives in forlorn and lovelorn), from Proto-Germanic *leusanan (cf. Old High German virliosan, German verlieren, Old Frisian urliasa, Gothic fraliusan "to lose").

Transitive sense of "to part with accidentally" is from c.1200. Meaning "fail to maintain" is from mid-15c. Meaning "to be defeated" (in a game, etc.) is from 1530s. Meaning "to cause (someone) to lose his way" is from 1640s. To lose (one's) mind "become insane" is attested from c.1500. To lose out "fail" is 1858, American English. Related: Lost; losing.

Idioms and Phrases with lose

lose

In addition to the idioms beginning with lose

lose face
lose ground
lose heart
lose it
lose no time
lose one's bearings
lose one's buttons
lose one's cool
lose oneself in
lose one's grip
lose one's head
lose one's hear to
lose one's lunch
lose one's marbles
lose one's mind
lose one's nerve
lose one's shirt
lose one's temper
lose one's touch
lose out
lose sight of
lose sleep over
lose the thread
lose time
lose touch
lose track

also see:

get (lose) one's bearings
keep (lose) one's cool
keep (lose) track
win some, lose some

Also see underlosinglost.