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- DictionaryLose/lo͞oz/
verb
- 1. be deprived of or cease to have or retain (something): "I've lost my appetite" Similar be deprived ofsuffer the loss ofno longer havestop havingOpposite regain
- ▪ cause (someone) to fail to gain or retain (something): "you lost me my appointment at the university"
- ▪ be deprived of (a close relative or friend) through their death or as a result of the breaking off of a relationship: "she lost her husband in the fire"
- ▪ (of a pregnant woman) miscarry (a baby) or suffer the death of (a baby) during childbirth: "am I going to lose the baby?"
- ▪ be destroyed or killed, especially through accident or as a result of military action: "a fishing disaster in which 19 local men were lost"
- ▪ decrease in (body weight); undergo a reduction of (a specified amount of weight): "she couldn't eat and began to lose weight"
- ▪ (of a watch or clock) become slow by (a specified amount of time): "this clock will neither gain nor lose a second"
- 2. become unable to find (something or someone): "I've lost the car keys" Similar mislaymisplacebe unable to finddropforgetoverlooklose track ofleave (behind)fail to keep/retainfail to keep sight ofOpposite find
- ▪ cease or become unable to follow (the right route): "the clouds came down and we lost the path" Similar stray fromwander fromdepart fromgo astray fromfail to keep tofail to keep in sightget lostlose one's bearings
- ▪ evade or shake off (a pursuer): "he came after me waving his revolver, but I easily lost him" Similar escape fromevadeeludedodgeavoidgive someone the slipshake offthrow offthrow off the scentduckget rid ofleave behindoutdistanceoutstripoutrunoutpaceget ahead ofinformal:ditcharchaic:bilk
- ▪ get rid of (an undesirable person or thing): informal North American "lose that creep!"
- ▪ cause (someone) to be unable to follow an argument or explanation: informal "sorry, Tim, you've lost me there"
- 3. fail to win (a game or contest): "they lost by one vote" Similar be defeatedbe beatensuffer defeatbe the loserbe conqueredbe vanquishedbe trouncedbe worstedbe bested byget/have the worstcome off second-bestlose outfailcome to griefmeet one's Waterlooinformal:come a croppergo downtake a licking
- ▪ cause (someone) to fail to win (a game or contest): "that shot lost him the championship"
- 4. earn less (money) than one is spending or has spent: "the paper is losing $500,000 a month"
- 5. waste or fail to take advantage of (time or an opportunity): "they lost every chance to score in the first inning" Similar neglectwastesquanderfail to graspfail to takefail to take advantage oflet passmissforfeitgive upignoredisregardinformal:pass uplose out on
Word Origin Old Englishlosian ‘perish, destroy’, also ‘become unable to find’, from los ‘loss’.
Scrabble Points: 4
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