loss

American  

[laws, los] / lɔs, lɒs /

noun

losses plural

1. detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get.

   to bear the loss of a robbery.

   Antonyms:

   gain

2. something that is lost.

   The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.

3. an amount or number lost.

   The loss of life increased each day.

4. the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had.

   the loss of old friends.

   Synonyms:

   deprivation, privation

5. death, or the fact of being dead.

   to mourn the loss of a grandparent.

6. the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc..

   to discover the loss of a document.

7. a losing by defeat; failure to win.

   the loss of a bet.

8. failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.

9. failure to preserve or maintain.

   loss of engine speed at high altitudes.

10. destruction or ruin.

    the loss of a ship by fire.

11. a thing or a number of related things that are lost or destroyed to some extent.

    Most buildings in the burned district were a total loss.

12. Military.

    1. the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc.

    2. Often losses. the number of soldiers so lost.

13. Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.

14. Electricity. a measure of the power lost in a system, as by conversion to heat, expressed as a relation between power input and power output, as the ratio of or difference between the two quantities.

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idioms

1. at a loss,

   1. at less than cost; at a financial loss.

   2. in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed.

      We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.

loss British  

/ lɒs /

noun

1. the act or an instance of losing

2. the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing

   a loss of reputation

3. the person, thing, or amount lost

   a large loss

4. (plural) military personnel lost by death or capture

5. (sometimes plural) the amount by which the costs of a business transaction or operation exceed its revenue

6. a measure of the power lost in an electrical system expressed as the ratio of or difference between the input power and the output power

7. insurance

   1. an occurrence of something that has been insured against, thus giving rise to a claim by a policyholder

   2. the amount of the resulting claim

8. 1. uncertain what to do; bewildered

   2. rendered helpless (for lack of something)

      at a loss for words

   3. at less than the cost of buying, producing, or maintaining (something)

      the business ran at a loss for several years

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loss More Idioms  

1. see at a loss; cut one's losses; dead loss.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preloss
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• losses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of loss

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English los “destruction”; cognate with Old Norse los “looseness, breakup”; cf. lose ( def. ), loose ( def. ), -less ( def. ), lorn ( def. )

Explanation

If you no longer have something, you experience a loss, like the loss of a favorite sock. When something lessens, or gets smaller, that's also a loss, as in weight loss. Loss has lots of opposites that help define what it means. It is the opposite of win, gain, found, or earn. You can take a loss in a game or a race or by misplacing or just plain losing something like a cell phone or money. When a business has more expenses than it can cover in sales, that, too, is called a loss. A difficult loss is when a friend, relative, or pet dies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loss losses

Lackluster hitting paired with two more errors add up to the Dodgers being swept for the first time this season in a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The FAA said SpaceX identified four actions to fix issues that likely led to the loss of its Super Heavy booster.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

"As half of our overheads stem from staff costs, a theoretical calculation -- assuming no change in labour costs -- would result in the loss of around 50,000 jobs," he said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

But he fears what will happen in the coming days as his the magnitude of his loss hits him.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The failure of bee colonies was caused by a wide range of factors, including but not limited to pathogens, pests, pesticides, pollutants, habitat loss, climate variability, agricultural production intensification, and crop management practices.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

About that record: He heads into Tuesday’s semifinal with 20 wins and just two losses in 25 matches as a World Cup coach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Most of the losses were caused, directly or indirectly, by presidential removal.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

Altimeter has made back its earlier losses and then some.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

The funding will be applied retrospectively to losses incurred since March and the scheme will continue until August.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Bobby stayed for hours, and the Collins regulars began to drift in to offer their congratulations, have something to eat, and discuss the losses to Benko and Olafsson.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• accident
• casualty
• catastrophe
• cost
• damage
• debt
• defeat
• deficit
• destruction
• disaster
• failure
• fall
• injury
• markdown
• trouble