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.
"defeated" (c.1300), "wasted, spent in vain," c.1500; also "no longer to be found" (1526), from the pp. of lose (q.v.). Lost Cause in ref. to the Southern U.S. bid for independence is from the title of E.A. Pollard's history of the CSA and the rebellion (1866). Lost Generation in ref. to the period 1914-18 first attested 1926 in Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," where he credits it to Gertrude Stein.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered; "a lost child"; "lost friends"; "his lost book"; "lost opportunities" [ant: found]
2.
having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity; "I frequently find myself disoriented when I come up out of the subway"; "the anesthetic left her completely disoriented" [syn: confused]
3.
spiritually or physically doomed or destroyed; "lost souls"; "a lost generation"; "a lost ship"; "the lost platoon" [ant: saved]
4.
not gained or won; "a lost battle"; "a lost prize" [ant: won]
5.
incapable of being recovered or regained; "his lost honor"
6.
not caught with the senses or the mind; "words lost in the din"
7.
deeply absorbed in thought; "as distant and bemused as a professor listening to the prattling of his freshman class"; "lost in thought"; "a preoccupied frown" [syn: bemused]
8.
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment; "obviously bemused by his questions"; "bewildered and confused"; "a cloudy and confounded philosopher"; "just a mixed-up kid"; "she felt lost on the first day of school"
Main Entry: lost Function: adjective 1: not made use of, won, or claimed <lost opportunity costs> 2: unintentionally gone out of or
missing from one's possession or control 3: ruined or destroyed physically; also: in an unknown physical condition or location <a lost ship>
Lost Springs, KS (city, FIPS 42825) Location: 38.56648 N, 96.96493 W Population (1990): 106 (36 housing units) Area: 0.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 66859
Lost River, WV Zip code(s): 26811
Lost Nation, IA (city, FIPS 46605) Location: 41.96606 N, 90.81747 W Population (1990): 467 (223 housing units) Area: 1.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 52254
Lost Lake, CA Zip code(s): 92225
Lost Hills, CA (CDP, FIPS 44280) Location: 35.62336 N, 119.69351 W Population (1990): 1212 (209 housing units) Area: 1.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 93249
Lost Creek, WV (town, FIPS 48748) Location: 39.15913 N, 80.35053 W Population (1990): 413 (173 housing units) Area: 2.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 26385
Lost Springs, WY (town, FIPS 47805) Location: 42.76529 N, 104.92380 W Population (1990): 4 (5 housing units) Area: 0.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 82224
Lost River, ID (city, FIPS 47890) Location: 43.72188 N, 113.54408 W Population (1990): 29 (18 housing units) Area: 22.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Lost Creek, TX (CDP, FIPS 44166) Location: 30.29537 N, 97.84404 W Population (1990): 4095 (1352 housing units) Area: 7.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Lost\, a. [Prop. p. p. of OE. losien. See Lose, v. t.]1. Parted with unwillingly or unintentionally; not to be found; missing; as, a lost book or sheep. 2. Parted with; no longer held or possessed; as, a lost limb; lost honor. 3. Not employed or enjoyed; thrown away; employed ineffectually; wasted; squandered; as, a lost day; a lost opportunity or benefit. 5. Having wandered from, or unable to find, the way; bewildered; perplexed; as, a child lost in the woods; a stranger lost in London. 6. Ruined or destroyed, either physically or morally; past help or hope; as, a ship lost at sea; a woman lost to virtue; a lost soul. 7. Hardened beyond sensibility or recovery; alienated; insensible; as, lost to shame; lost to all sense of honor. 8. Not perceptible to the senses; no longer visible; as, an island lost in a fog; a person lost in a crowd. 9. Occupied with, or under the influence of, something, so as to be insensible of external things; as, to be lost in thought. Lost motion (Mach.), the difference between the motion of a driver and that of a follower, due to the yielding of parts or looseness of joints.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [lawst, lost] Pronunciation Key 
