lose

[ looz ]

/ luz /

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See synonyms for: lose / loses / losing / lost on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), lost

[lawst, lost], /lɔst, lɒst/, los·ing

[loo-zing]. /ˈlu zɪŋ/.

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 get or take advantage of; miss: to lose an opportunity.

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.

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Idioms about lose

lose face. face (def. 53).

lose something in translation. See entry at lose in translation.

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

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

OTHER WORDS FROM lose

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lose

1. loose, loosen, lose 2. lose , loss

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lose in a sentence

A beanie that’s not scratchyWhile it isn’t quite true that you lose half your body temperature through your head, covering your noggin is still pretty important in cold weather.
The hottest gifts to buy for the friend who’s always cold|Sandra Gutierrez G.|November 20, 2020|Popular-Science
He’s also fumbled four times in those 40 touches, losing two of them.
Taysom Hill, not Jameis Winston, reportedly will replace Drew Brees for the Saints|Matt Bonesteel|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Over that same period, an additional 410,000 lives were lost, the majority of which were in lower- or middle-income countries.
Natural disasters are increasing. The world’s poorest are left to fend for themselves.|Jariel Arvin|November 20, 2020|Vox
You don’t have much to lose, so you might as well turn exposure alerts on.
A covid-fighting tool is buried in your phone. Turn it on.|Geoffrey Fowler|November 20, 2020|Washington Post

Later that year, he helped TSM win the summer split playoffs and secure a top seed to Worlds, where they lost in the quarterfinals.
The enduring and ongoing legacy of Bjergsen|Noah Smith|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
But he loses his backpack in the process and it stays with the cops as he flees down the walkway toward Brooklyn.
Protesters Slimed This Good Samaritan Cop|Michael Daly|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The problem comes at this point because the liquid loses its potency within an hour even in ideal conditions.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World|Kent Sepkowitz|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Interpreted more broadly, the phrase loses meaning: what constitutes the necessary threshold of realism?
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Lady eventually does engage in a street fight, and loses, which surprises and horrifies Mariame and the gang.
‘Girlhood’: Coming of Age in France’s Projects|Molly Hannon|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The Intercept loses its editor in chief as First Look crumbles,” read a typical headline on the Mashable.com news site.
Journalists + eBay Billionaire = Chaos. The Troubles at Pierre Omidyar’s First Look Media|Lloyd Grove|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The player to his right holds eight, the player to his left has only six—the right side wins, the left side loses.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
I have dwelt on this as an illustration of how irrecoverably a man loses his manhood when he is made a God.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
It loses all its value just as soon as there is enough of it to satisfy, and over-satisfy the wants of humanity.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
When Tim hesitates he loses his temper as a sensible man should lose it—he buries it, and his indomitable good humor wins.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
He loses sight of the supreme fact that after all, in its own poor, clumsy fashion, the machine does work.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock

British Dictionary definitions for lose

lose

/ (luːz) /

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 forms of lose

losable, 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

Other 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.

lose

Idioms about lose

Origin of lose

OTHER WORDS FROM lose

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lose

Words related to lose

How to use lose in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lose

Derived forms of lose

Word Origin for lose

Other Idioms and Phrases with lose