Definitions for: Lose


[v] be set at a disadvantage; "This author really suffers in translation"
[v] fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war"
[v] retreat
[v] place (something) where one cannot find it again; "I misplaced my eyeglasses"
[v] suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; "She lost her husband in the war"; "The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her"
[v] fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind; "I missed that remark"; "She missed his point"; "We lost part of what he said"
[v] allow to go out of sight; "The detective lost the man he was shadowing after he had to stop at a red light"
[v] miss from one's possessions; lose sight of; "I've lost my glasses again!"
[v] fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense; "She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat"
[v] fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a year abroad"
[v] fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit; "I lost thousands of dollars on that bad investment!"; "The company turned a loss after the first year"



Webster (1913) Definition: Lose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Losing.] [OE. losien to
loose, be lost, lose, AS. losian to become loose; akin to OE.
leosen to lose, p. p. loren, lorn, AS. le['o]san, p. p. loren
(in comp.), D. verliezen, G. verlieren, Dan. forlise, Sw.
f["o]rlisa, f["o]rlora, Goth. fraliusan, also to E. loose, a
& v., L. luere to loose, Gr. ?, Skr. l? to cut. [root]127.
Cf. Analysis, Palsy, Solve, Forlorn, Leasing,
Loose, Loss.]
1. To part with unintentionally or unwillingly, as by
accident, misfortune, negligence, penalty, forfeit, etc.;
to be deprived of; as, to lose money from one's purse or
pocket, or in business or gaming; to lose an arm or a leg
by amputation; to lose men in battle.

Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her
favorite dove. --Prior.

2. To cease to have; to possess no longer; to suffer
diminution of; as, to lose one's relish for anything; to
lose one's health.

If the salt hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it
be salted ? --Matt. v. 13.

3. Not to employ; to employ ineffectually; to throw away; to
waste; to squander; as, to lose a day; to lose the
benefits of instruction.

The unhappy have but hours, and these they lose.
--Dryden.

4. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to and; to
go astray from; as, to lose one's way.

He hath lost his fellows. --Shak

5. To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on
the ledge.

The woman that deliberates is lost. --Addison.

6. To be deprived of the view of; to cease to see or know the
whereabouts of; as, he lost his companion in the crowd.

Like following life thro' creatures you dissect, You
lose it in the moment you detect. --Pope.

7. To fail to obtain or enjoy; to fail to gain or win; hence,
to fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss; as, I
lost a part of what he said.

He shall in no wise lose his reward. --Matt. x. 42.

I fought the battle bravely which I lost, And lost
it but to Macedonians. --Dryden.

8. To cause to part with; to deprive of. [R.]

How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves
with so much passion ? --Sir W.
Temple.

9. To prevent from gaining or obtaining.

O false heart ! thou hadst almost betrayed me to
eternal flames, and lost me this glory. --Baxter.

To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or
disadvantage.

To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. ``The
mutineers lost heart.'' --Macaulay.

To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose
the use of one's good sense or judgment.

In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars
lost their heads. --Whitney.

To lose one's self.
(a) To forget or mistake the bearing of surrounding
objects; as, to lose one's self in a great city.
(b) To have the perceptive and rational power temporarily
suspended; as, we lose ourselves in sleep.

To lose sight of.
(a) To cease to see; as, to lose sight of the land.
(b) To overlook; to forget; to fail to perceive; as, he
lost sight of the issue.


Lose, v. i.
To suffer loss, disadvantage, or defeat; to be worse off,
esp. as the result of any kind of contest.

We 'll . . . hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and
we'll talk with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's
in, who's out. --Shak.

Synonyms: drop off, fall back, fall behind, mislay, misplace, miss, recede, suffer, turn a loss

Antonyms: advance, break even, find, gain, gain, gain ground, get ahead, hold on, keep, make headway, profit, pull ahead, regain, turn a profit, win, win

See Also: compete, contend, decline, drop, forget, go down, lay, leave, overlook, place, pose, position, put, regress, remain down, retrograde, retrogress, set, sleep off, suffer, take the count, vie, white-out, worsen

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