at a loss - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: at a loss

loss

–noun

1.	detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get: to bear the loss of a robbery.

2.	something that is lost: The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.

3.	an amount or number lost: The loss of life increased each day.

4.	the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had: the loss of old friends.

5.	death, or the fact of being dead: to mourn the loss of a grandparent.

6.	the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.: to discover the loss of a document.

7.	a losing by defeat; failure to win: the loss of a bet.

8.	failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.

9.	failure to preserve or maintain: loss of engine speed at high altitudes.

10.	destruction or ruin: the loss of a ship by fire.

11.	a thing or a number of related things that are lost or destroyed to some extent: Most buildings in the burned district were a total loss.

12.

Military.

a.	the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc.

b.	Often, losses. the number of soldiers so lost.

13.	Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.

14.	Electricity. a measure of the power lost in a system, as by conversion to heat, expressed as a relation between power input and power output, as the ratio of or difference between the two quantities.

—Idiom

15.

at a loss,

a.	at less than cost; at a financial loss.

b.	in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed: We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE los destruction; c. ON los looseness, breaking up. See lose, loose

]

—Synonyms 4. privation, deprivation.

—Antonyms 1. gain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
at a loss

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loss Audio Help (lôs, lŏs) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act or an instance of losing: nine losses during the football season.
1. One that is lost: wrote their flooded house off as a loss.
2. The condition of being deprived or bereaved of something or someone: mourning their loss.
3. The amount of something lost: selling at a 50 percent loss.
The harm or suffering caused by losing or being lost.
losses People lost in wartime; casualties.
Destruction: The war caused incalculable loss.
Electricity The power decrease caused by resistance in a circuit, circuit element, or device.
The amount of a claim on an insurer by an insured.

[Middle English los, from Old English; see lose.]

at a loss
adjective
1.	filled with bewilderment; "at a loss to understand those remarks"; "puzzled that she left without saying goodbye"
adverb
1.	below cost; "sold the car at a loss"

not knowing what to do, say etc
Example: He was at a loss for words to express his gratitude.

Arabic:	حائِر، مُرْتَبِك، لا يَعْلَم ماذا يَفْعَل
Chinese (Simplified):	不知所措
Chinese (Traditional):	不知所措
Czech:	v rozpacích
Danish:	i vildrede
Dutch:	niet wetend wat te doen, zeggen
Estonian:	nõutu
Finnish:	neuvoton
French:	embarrassé
German:	außerstande
Greek:	σαστισμένος, που τα έχει χαμένα
Hungarian:	zavarban (van)
Icelandic:	vera ráðvilltur, *orðlaus
Indonesian:	bingung
Italian:	(alla ricerca di); perplesso

Japanese:	途方にくれて
Latvian:	apmulsis; neziņā
Lithuanian:	negalintis rasti, nežinantis ką daryti, *sakyti
Norwegian:	i villrede, opprådd
Polish:	w kropce
Portuguese (Brazil):	atrapalhado
Portuguese (Portugal):	sem saber o que fazer
Romanian:	în încurcătură
Russian:	в растерянности
Slovak:	v rozpakoch
Slovenian:	biti v zadregi
Spanish:	de una pieza, sin palabras
Swedish:	villrådig, i bryderi
Turkish:	şaşkınlık içinde