to come to be without (something in one's possession or care), through accident, theft, etc., so that there is little or no prospect of recovery: I'm sure I've merely misplaced my hat, not lost it.
2.
to fail inadvertently to retain (something) in such a way that it cannot be immediately recovered: I just lost a dime under this sofa.
3.
to suffer the deprivation of: to lose one's job; to lose one's life.
4.
to be bereaved of by death: to lose a sister.
5.
to fail to keep, preserve, or maintain: to lose one's balance; to lose one's figure.
6.
(of a clock or watch) to run slower by: The watch loses three minutes a day.
7.
to give up; forfeit the possession of: to lose a fortune at the gaming table.
8.
to get rid of: to lose one's fear of the dark; to lose weight.
9.
to bring to destruction or ruin (usually used passively): Ship and crew were lost.
10.
to condemn to hell; damn.
11.
to have slip from sight, hearing, attention, etc.: to lose him in the crowd.
12.
to stray from or become ignorant of (one's way, directions, etc.): to lose one's bearings.
13.
to leave far behind in a pursuit, race, etc.; outstrip: She managed to lose the other runners on the final lap of the race.
14.
to use to no purpose; waste: to lose time in waiting.
15.
to fail to have, get, catch, etc.; miss: to lose a bargain.
16.
to fail to win (a prize, stake, etc.): to lose a bet.
17.
to be defeated in (a game, lawsuit, battle, etc.): He has lost very few cases in his career as a lawyer.
18.
to cause the loss of: The delay lost the battle for them.
19.
to let (oneself) go astray, miss the way, etc.: We lost ourselves in the woods.
20.
to allow (oneself) to become absorbed or engrossed in something and oblivious to all else: I had lost myself in thought.
21.
(of a physician) to fail to preserve the life of (a patient).
22.
(of a woman) to fail to be delivered of (a live baby) because of miscarriage, complications in childbirth, etc.
–verb (used without object)
23.
to suffer loss: to lose on a contract.
24.
to suffer defeat or fail to win, as in a contest, race, or game: We played well, but we lost.
25.
to depreciate in effectiveness or in some other essential quality: a classic that loses in translation.
26.
(of a clock, watch, etc.) to run slow.
—Verb phrase
27.
lose out, to suffer defeat or loss; fail to obtain something desired: He got through the preliminaries, but lost out in the finals.
O.E. losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss," from P.Gmc. *lausa (cf. O.N. los "the breaking up of an army"), from PIE base *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart, untie, separate" (cf. Skt. lunati "cuts, cuts off," lavitram "sickle;" Gk. lyein "to loosen, untie, slacken," lysus "a loosening;" L. luere "to loose, release, atone for"). Replaced related leosan (a class II strong verb whose pp. loren survives in forlorn and love-lorn), from P.Gmc. *leusanan (cf. O.H.G. virliosan, Ger. verlieren, O.Fris. urliasa, Goth. fraliusan "to lose"). Transitive sense of "to part with accidentally" is from c.1205. Meaning "to be defeated" (in a game, etc.) is from c.1533. To lose (one's) mind "become insane" is attested from c.1500. To lose out "fail" is 1858, Amer.Eng.
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]
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"; "The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her"
4.
place (something) where one cannot find it again; "I misplaced my eyeglasses" [syn: misplace]
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!"; "The company turned a loss after the first year" [ant: profit, break even]
8.
fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a year abroad" [ant: acquire]
losejargon (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!" [The Jargon File] (1995-04-19)
For*lorn"\, a. [OE., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forle['o]san (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + le['o]san (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. f["o]rlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. See For-, and Lorn, a., Lose, v. t.]1. Deserted; abandoned; lost. Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. --Spenser. Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. --Shak. 2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate. For here forlorn and lost I tread. --Goldsmith. The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme. --Prescott. She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living. --Thomson. A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise. Syn: Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.
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Audio Help [looz] Pronunciation Key verb, lost, los·ing. 
