5 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Lose \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Lose \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.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
lose
v 1: fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have either
physically or in an abstract sense fail to keep in mind
or in sight; "She lost her purse when she left it
unattended on her seat"; "She lost her husband a year
ago" [ant: {keep}]
2: fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war" [ant: {win}]
3: suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; "She
lost her husband in the war"
4: place something where one cannot find it again "I
misplaced my eyeglasses" [syn: {misplace}, {mislay}]
5: miss from one's possessions; lose sight of "I've lost my
glasses again!" [ant: {find}]
6: allow to go out of sight: "The detective lost the man he was
shadowing after he had to stop at a red light"
7: fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to
profit; "I lost thousands of dollars on that bad
investment!" [ant: {profit}, {break even}]
8: fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a
year abroad" [ant: {win}]
9: retreat [syn: {fall back}, {drop off}, {fall behind}, {recede}]
[ant: {gain}]
10: 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" [syn: {miss}]
From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]:
lose vi 1. [very common] To fail A program loses when it
encounters an exceptional condition or fails to work in the expected
manner. 2. To be exceptionally unesthetic or crocky. 3. Of people,
to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as opposed to ignorant). See also
{deserves to lose}. 4. n. Refers to something that is {losing},
especially in the phrases "That's a lose!" and "What a lose!"
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]:
lose
({MIT}) 1. To fail A program loses when it
encounters an exceptional condition or fails to work in the
expected manner.
2. To be exceptionally unesthetic or crocky.
3. Of people, to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as opposed
to ignorant).
4. Refers to something that is {losing}, especially in the
phrases "That's a lose!" and "What a lose!"
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-04-19)
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