| / English Dictionary |
LOOSE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not affixed
Example:
the stamp came loose
Synonyms:
loose; unaffixed
Classified under:
Derivation:
looseness (the quality of movability by virtue of being free from attachment or other restraints)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior
Example:
wanton behavior
Synonyms:
easy; light; loose; promiscuous; sluttish; wanton
Classified under:
Similar:
unchaste (not chaste)
Derivation:
looseness (dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
Example:
loose gravel
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unconsolidated (loose and unstratified)
silty (full of silt)
shifting; unfirm ((of soil) unstable)
light ((used of soil) loose and large-grained in consistency)
Antonym:
compact (closely and firmly united or packed together)
Derivation:
looseness (the quality of movability by virtue of being free from attachment or other restraints)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any player
Example:
a loose ball
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
uncontrolled (not being under control; out of control)
Domain category:
athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Emptying easily or excessively
Example:
loose bowels
Synonyms:
lax; loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
regular; unconstipated (not constipated)
Derivation:
looseness (frequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Not literal
Example:
a free translation of the poem
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
inexact (not exact)
Derivation:
looseness (a lack of strict accuracy; laxity of practice)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Having escaped, especially from confinement
Example:
criminals on the loose in the neighborhood
Synonyms:
at large; escaped; loose; on the loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
free (not limited or hampered; not under compulsion or restraint)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting
Example:
the large shoes were very loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
baggy; loose-fitting; sloppy (not fitting closely; hanging loosely)
flyaway ((of hair or clothing) worn loose)
Also:
lax (lacking in firmness or tension; not taut)
Antonym:
tight (closely constrained or constricted or constricting)
Derivation:
looseness (the quality of movability by virtue of being free from attachment or other restraints)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Not officially recognized or controlled
Example:
a loose organization of the local farmers
Synonyms:
informal; loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unofficial (not having official authority or sanction)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Not carefully arranged in a package
Example:
a box of loose nails
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unpackaged (not packaged or put into packets)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility
Example:
a loose tongue
Synonyms:
idle; loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
irresponsible (showing lack of care for consequences)
Derivation:
looseness (freedom from restraint)
Sense 12
Meaning:
(of textures) full of small openings or gaps
Example:
a loose weave
Synonyms:
loose; open
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
coarse; harsh (of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles)
Sense 13
Meaning:
Not tense or taut
Example:
a slack grip
Synonyms:
loose; slack
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
lax (lacking in firmness or tension; not taut)
Derivation:
looseness (movement or space for movement)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they loose ... he / she / it looses
Past simple: loosed
Past participle: loosed
-ing form: loosing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Become loose or looser or less tight
Example:
the rope relaxed
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
weaken (become weaker)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make loose or looser
Example:
loosen the tension on a rope
Synonyms:
loose; loosen
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Cause:
loose; loosen; relax (become loose or looser or less tight)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loose"):
relax; unbend (make less taut)
remit; slacken (make slack as by lessening tension or firmness)
slack (release tension on)
unscrew (loosen something by unscrewing it)
unscrew (loosen by turning)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Turn loose or free from restraint
Example:
Loose terrible plagues upon humanity
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
let go; let go of; release; relinquish (release, as from one's grip)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Grant freedom to; free from confinement
Synonyms:
free; liberate; loose; release; unloose; unloosen
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loose"):
unspell (release from a spell)
unchain (make free)
bail (release after a security has been paid)
run (set animals loose to graze)
bail out (free on bail)
parole (release a criminal from detention and place him on parole)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
They want to loose the prisoners
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Without restraint
Example:
cows in India are running loose
Synonyms:
free; loose
Classified under:
Context examples:
My fingers were torn loose, and I swept across to the side and over the side into the sea.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
"I have not examined it yet," I answered, and then and there proceeded to loose the band.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
He helped the process with his fingers, working loose small ice-chunks that fell rattling to the floor.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It is characterized by developmental delay, mental retardation, loose skin folds, cardiomyopathy, tachycardia, and structural heart defects.
(Costello syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
Diarrhea means that you have loose, watery stools more than three times in one day.
(Diarrhea, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
Ma foi! they are about to loose her.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His arms were long and slingy, his shoulders loose and yet powerful, with the downward slant which is a surer index of power than squareness can be.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
If I’d known that any letter of mine was goin’ to lie loose in a thing like that I’d have been a mug to write to you at all.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We, however, lay to until the morning, fearing to encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
A cell of the loose cellular inner layer of the periosteal tissue in the intramembranous ossification of bone
(Periosteal Cell, NCI Thesaurus)
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