Definition of Lose

Pronunciation: lŌz
v. t.1.
[imp. & p. p. Lost (lǒst; 115) p. pr. & vb. n. Losing (lŌz"ĭng).]
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.
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.
To lose one's head
to be thrown off one's balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment, through fear, anger, or other emotion.
- Macaulay.
In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars lost their heads.
- Whitney.
v. i.1.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.


Related Words

be bereaved of, be found wanting, be unsuccessful, bereave, bite the dust, bow, bow to, capitulate, clear, come to grief, consume, decline, default, disinherit, displace, dispossess, dissipate, divest, draw a blank, drop, elude, escape, evade, exhaust, expend, fail of success, fall, flunk, flunk out, forget, fritter away, give the slip, give up, go astray from, go bankrupt, go down, go under, have enough, incur loss, kiss good-bye, labor in vain, let slip, lick the dust, lose out, lose sight of, lose the day, miss, not come off, not pass, not remember, not work, oust, part with, relinquish, rid, rob, say uncle, shake off, slip, spend, spill, squander, succumb, suffer loss, surrender, take the count, throw off, trifle away, tumble, unburden, undergo privation, use up, wander from, waste, yield

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