'Lose' definitions:

Definition of 'lose'

(from WordNet)
verb
Fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense; "She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat" [ant: hold on, keep]
verb
Fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war" [ant: win]
verb
Suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; "She lost her husband in the war"; "The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her"
verb
Place (something) where one cannot find it again; "I misplaced my eyeglasses" [syn: misplace, mislay, lose]
verb
Miss from one's possessions; lose sight of; "I've lost my glasses again!" [ant: find, regain]
verb
Allow to go out of sight; "The detective lost the man he was shadowing after he had to stop at a red light"
verb
Fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit; "I lost thousands of dollars on that bad investment!"; "The company turned a loss after the first year" [syn: lose, turn a loss] [ant: break even, profit, turn a profit]
verb
Fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a year abroad" [ant: acquire, gain, win]
verb
Retreat [syn: fall back, lose, drop off, fall behind, recede] [ant: advance, gain, gain ground, get ahead, make headway, pull ahead, win]
verb
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, lose]
verb
Be set at a disadvantage; "This author really suffers in translation" [syn: suffer, lose]

Definition of 'Lose'

From: GCIDE
  • Lose \Lose\ (l[=oo]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lost (l[o^]st; 115) p. pr. & vb. n. Losing (l[=oo]z"[i^]ng).] [OE. losien to loose, be lost, lose, AS. losian to become loose; akin to OE. leosen to lose, p. p. loren, lorn, AS. le['i]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. ly`ein, Skr. l[=u] to cut. [root]127. Cf. Analysis, Palsy, Solve, Forlorn, Leasing, Loose, Loss.] [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her favorite dove. --Prior. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • If the salt hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? --Matt. v. 13. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • The unhappy have but hours, and these they lose. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to and; to go astray from; as, to lose one's way. [1913 Webster]
  • He hath lost his fellows. --Shak [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on the ledge. [1913 Webster]
  • The woman that deliberates is lost. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Like following life thro' creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • He shall in no wise lose his reward. --Matt. x. 42. [1913 Webster]
  • I fought the battle bravely which I lost, And lost it but to Macedonians. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To cause to part with; to deprive of. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion? --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. To prevent from gaining or obtaining. [1913 Webster]
  • O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory. --Baxter. [1913 Webster]
  • 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, through fear, anger, or other emotion. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Lose'

From: GCIDE
  • Lose \Lose\, v. i. To suffer loss, disadvantage, or defeat; to be worse off, esp. as the result of any kind of contest. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'lose'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Lose'