'At loose ends' definitions:

Definition of 'At loose ends'

From: GCIDE
  • Loose \Loose\ (l[=oo]s), a. [Compar. Looser (l[=oo]s"[~e]r); superl. Loosest.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s, Goth. laus, and E. lose. [root]127. See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood.]
  • 1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book. [1913 Webster]
  • Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; -- with from or of. [1913 Webster]
  • Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. [1913 Webster]
  • With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. [1913 Webster]
  • The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. --Whewel. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. [1913 Webster]
  • The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Unconnected; rambling. [1913 Webster]
  • Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. [1913 Webster]
  • Loose ladies in delight. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • At loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.
  • Fast and loose. See under Fast.
  • To break loose. See under Break.
  • Loose pulley. (Mach.) See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast.
  • To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'At loose ends'