lose

present singular third person loses · participle present losing · participle past lost · past lost · first person past singular lost · archaic present second person singular losest · past second person singular lost · archaic past second person singular lostest · present singular third person loses · archaic present singular third person loseth · past singular third person lost · past plural lost · past subjunctive lost · participle present losing · participle past lost

1. transitiveTo cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.

   He lost his hearing in the explosion.

   5 more examples

   If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry.

   She lost her position when the company was taken over.

   Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Douglas: I took some of the pension money out of the bank and I lost it on a horse. Nolan: Gambling with our employees' pensions? Douglas: Gambling? No. I was riding the horse. It fell out of my pocket.

   2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1

   Forest, who lost striker Kris Boyd to injury seconds before half-time, produced little after the break, with a Tyson sliced shot from 12 yards their only opportunity of note.

   2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport

   1. transitiveTo have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.

      He lost his spleen in a car wreck.

      2 more examples

      Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy.

      1999 marked the year I lost my first tooth, my first time on a plane, and unfortunately the early loss of my childhood innocence.

      2009 November 14, Camden Lamont, 1999, in Creepypasta, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2020

   2. transitiveTo shed (weight).

      I’ve lost five pounds this week.

   3. transitiveTo experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend).

      She lost all her sons in the war.

      1 more example

      I hold it true, whate’er befall; ⁠I feel it, when I sorrow most; ⁠’Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

      1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 44

   4. transitiveTo pay or owe (some wager) due from an unsuccessful bet or gamble.

      Frank had lost $500 staying in Vegas.

   5. transitiveTo be deprived of (some right or privileged access to something).

      Users who engage in disruptive behavior may lose their accounts.

2. transitiveTo wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.

   I lost my way in the forest.

   1 more example

   He hath lost his fellows.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

3. transitiveTo become a defeated competitor in (a game, competition, trial, etc).

   You just lost The Game.

   3 more examples

   We lost the football match.

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

   1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy

   Well, some news from overseas: according to a new report, Russia is now buying military supplies from North Korea. Yep, Russia's asking North Korea for help. Uh, tell us you're losing the war without telling us you're losing the war.

   2022 September 7, 5:25 from the start, in Trump Tried to Pay Lawyer with a Horse, Also Stole Material on Foreign Nation's Nuclear Capabilities (Comedy), spoken by Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2022

4. intransitiveTo be defeated (in a game, competition, contest, etc.)

   The team scored four goals but still managed to lose.

5. transitiveTo be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer.

   The policeman lost the robber he was chasing.

   1 more example

   Mission control lost the satellite as its signal died down.

6. transitiveTo cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.

   lose the cops

   1 more example

   We managed to lose our pursuers in the forest.

7. transitiveTo cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion).

   Her attitude was so bad my mother wound up telling her, “You know we really don't have to be standing here talking to you, so you can lose the attitude or you can leave.

   2012, Tracy Brooks, Dancing in the Rain, →ISBN, page 349

   1 more example

   I can see Mickie getting hot, I'm about to grab his arm, hold him back, say, Whoa, whoa, Mick, not here, it ain't worth it what happened inside just now. But I don't need to because Mickie loses his anger, starts smiling at ponytail, then melodramatically starts looking around at the men and women on the street going in and out of the courthouse.

   2007, Ron Liebman, Death by Rodrigo, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 134

8. informaltransitiveTo shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.

   Lose that extra space on the left.

   2 more examples

   When we get into the building, please lose the hat.

   You can bet that the next woman who "loses" the top half of her bikini at the beach was born under the sign of Libra.

   1976, Martine, Sexual Astrology

   Synonyms: ditch, drop, dump, get rid of, jettison

9. transitiveOf a clock, to run slower than expected.

   My watch loses five minutes a week.

   1 more example

   It's already 5:30? My watch must have lost a few minutes.

10. ditransitiveTo cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.

    a. 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, On the Excesses of Grief How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?

    3 more examples

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

    1650, Richard Baxter, The Saints' Everlasting Rest

    Anyone who knew you were gay, especially if they were straight, had life-and-death power over you. That person could lose you your job, get you evicted, or have you generally hounded out of town.

    1986, Samuel R. Delany, Joseph Beam, “The Possibility of Possibilities”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 186

    This lost Catholicism […] any semblance of a claim to special status, and also highlighted the gains which other religious formations had derived from the Revolution.

    2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 556

11. transitiveTo fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.

    She moved out of hearing and I lost the end of the sentence.

1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of loos (“praise; fame; reputation”).

plural Loses

1. A surname from German.