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.
Lose (l&oomac;z),
v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lost (l&obreve;st; 115) p. pr. & vb.
n. Losing (l&oomac;z"&ibreve;ng).]
[OE.
losien to loose, be lost, lose,
AS. losian to become loose; akin to OE. leosen to lose, p. p. loren, lorn, AS. leósan,
p. p. loren (in comp.), D. verliezen, G.
verlieren, Dan. forlise, Sw. förlisa, förlora, Goth. fraliusan, also to E. loose, a & v., L. luere to loose, Gr. ly`ein, Skr. lū to cut. √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.
Hear it pronounced