# lose
## English
### Pronunciation

* enPR: lo͞oz, IPA: /luːz/
** Audio (Received Pronunciation); “to lose”:(file)
** Audio (General American):(file)
** Homophone: loos
** Rhymes: -uːz
* enPR: lōz, (Early Modern also) IPA: /lɔːz/

### Etymology 1

From Middle English losen, from Old English losian, from Proto-West Germanic *losōn, from Proto-Germanic *lusōną, *luzōną, from Proto-Germanic *lusą. The modern pronunciation with /uː/ (instead of the /oʊ~əʊ/ that would be expected from Early Modern /ɔː/) is due to conflation with loose.

#### Verb

lose (third-person singular simple present loses, present participle losing, simple past and past participle lost)
* (transitive) To cause (something) to cease to be in one's possession or capability.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
** 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1:
    Douglas: I took some of the pension money out of the bank and I lost it on a horse. Nolan: Gambling with our employees' pensions? Douglas: Gambling? No. I was riding the horse. It fell out of my pocket.
** 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport:Forest, who lost striker Kris Boyd to injury seconds before half-time, produced little after the break, with a Tyson sliced shot from 12 yards their only opportunity of note.
    If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry.
    He lost his hearing in the explosion.
    She lost her position when the company was taken over.
** (transitive) To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.
    Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy.
    He lost his spleen in a car wreck.
** (transitive) To shed (weight).
    I’ve lost five pounds this week.
** (transitive) To experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend).
    She lost all her sons in the war.
*** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXVII, page 44:I hold it true, whate’er befall; ⁠I feel it, when I sorrow most; ⁠’Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.
** (transitive) To pay or owe (some wager) due from an unsuccessful bet or gamble.
    Frank had lost $500 staying in Vegas.
** (transitive) To be deprived of (some right or privileged access to something).
    Users who engage in disruptive behavior may lose their accounts.
* To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
    I lost my way in the forest.
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:He hath lost his fellows.
* (transitive) To fail to win (a game, competition, trial, etc).
    We lost the football match.
    You just lost The Game.
** 1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy:I fought the battle bravely which I lost, / And lost it but to Macedonians.
** 2022 September 7, 5:25 from the start, in Trump Tried to Pay Lawyer with a Horse, Also Stole Material on Foreign Nation's Nuclear Capabilities‎ (Comedy), spoken by Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, archived from the original on 08 September 2022:Well, some news from overseas: according to a new report, Russia is now buying military supplies from North Korea. Yep, Russia's asking North Korea for help. Uh, tell us you're losing the war without telling us you're losing the war.
* (transitive) To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer.
    The policeman lost the robber he was chasing.
    Mission control lost the satellite as its signal died down.
* (transitive) To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.
    lose the cops
    We managed to lose our pursuers in the forest.
* (transitive) To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion).
** 2007, Ron Liebman, Death by Rodrigo, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 134:I can see Mickie getting hot, I'm about to grab his arm, hold him back, say, Whoa, whoa, Mick, not here, it ain't worth it what happened inside just now. But I don't need to because Mickie loses his anger, starts smiling at ponytail, then melodramatically starts looking around at the men and women on the street going in and out of the courthouse.
** 2012, Tracy Brooks, Dancing in the Rain, →ISBN, page 349:Her attitude was so bad my mother wound up telling her, “You know we really don't have to be standing here talking to you, so you can lose the attitude or you can leave.
* (transitive, informal) To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.
    When we get into the building, please lose the hat.
** 1976, Martine, Sexual Astrology:You can bet that the next woman who "loses" the top half of her bikini at the beach was born under the sign of Libra.
* Of a clock, to run slower than expected.
    My watch loses five minutes a week.
    It's already 5:30? My watch must have lost a few minutes.
* (ditransitive) To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.
** 1650, Richard Baxter, The Saints' Everlasting Rest:O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory.
** a. 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, On the Excesses of Grief
    How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?
** 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 556:This lost Catholicism […] any semblance of a claim to special status, and also highlighted the gains which other religious formations had derived from the Revolution.
* To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
    I lost a part of what he said.

##### Usage notes

* Not to be confused with loose.

##### Conjugation

$^†$ Archaic or obsolete.

##### Synonyms

* (cause to cease to be in one's possession): leave behind, mislay
* (fail to win (something): forfeit
* (shed (weight): drop, shed
* (have (somebody of one's kin) die):
* (be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer):
* (shed, remove, discard, eliminate): ditch, drop, dump, get rid of, jettison

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “cause to cease to be in one's possession”): come across, discover, find, gain, acquire, procure, get, pick up, snag
* (antonym(s) of “fail to win (something”): win
* (antonym(s) of “shed (weight”): gain, put on
* (antonym(s) of “have (somebody of one's kin) die”):
* (antonym(s) of “be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer”): find
* (antonym(s) of “shed, remove, discard, eliminate”): pick up
* (antonym(s) of “fail to be the winner”): come first, win

##### Derived terms

* and nothing of value was lost
* be someone's to lose
* for the lose
* how you get them is how you lose them
* lose an hour of sleep
* lose caste
* lose control
* lose count
* lose face
* lose ground
* lose heart
* lose her head
* lose his head
* lose it
* lose-lose
* lose no time
* lose one's balance
* lose one's battle
* lose one's bearings
* lose one's bottle
* lose one's cookies
* lose one's cool
* lose oneself
* lose one's head
* lose one's heart
* lose one's life
* lose one's lunch
* lose one's marbles
* lose one's mind
* lose one's nerve
* lose one's patience
* lose one's rag
* lose one's shirt
* lose one's shit
* lose one's temper
* lose one's tongue
* lose one's touch
* lose one's virginity
* lose one's way
* lose one's wits
* lose out
* lose patience
* lose sight of
* lose sleep
* lose the bell
* lose the bubble
* lose the dressing room
* lose the fang
* lose their head
* lose the number of one's mess
* lose the plot
* lose the run of oneself
* lose the thread
* lose time
* lose touch
* lose track
* lose weight
* move it or lose it
* no-lose
* no love lost
* no time to lose
* the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature
* use it or lose it
* what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts
* what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
* win or lose
* would lose one's head if it wasn't attached
* would lose one's head if it wasn't bolted on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't glued on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't stuck on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't tied on
* would lose one's head if it weren't attached
* you snooze you lose

##### Related terms

* losel
* loser
* loss

##### Descendants

* Chinese Pidgin English: loosee

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

lose (uncountable)
* Alternative form of loos (“praise; fame; reputation”).

### References

* ↑ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume I: Survey of the sources, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, page 115.

### Anagrams

* EOLs, ESOL, Elos, LEOs, Leos, OELs, Sole, elos, leos, selo, sloe, sole

## Alemannic German
### Etymology

From Middle High German losen, from Old High German hlosēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlusēną. Cognate with English listen; see there for more.

### Pronunciation

* (Zürich) IPA: /ˈlozə/, /ˈlɔzə/

### Verb

lose (third-person singular simple present loset, past participle gloset, auxiliary haa)
* to hear, listen
** 1903, Robert Walser, Der Teich:I ha allwäg nüt anders z'mache, als nume uf dini Chlage z’lose.I never have to do anything but listen to your complaints.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlosɛ]
* Rhymes: -osɛ
* Hyphenation: lo‧se

### Noun

lose
* vocative singular of los
** 1874, “Písně běloruské”, in František Vymazal, editor, Slovanská poezije‎, Brno: Matice moravská, page 236:„A což ty, lose, což ty nebohý, Tak k dědině přivykáš? A což ty, lose, což ty nebohý, Zimičku lichou předvídáš?“(please add an English translation of this quotation)

### Anagrams

* Elso
* osel
* osle
* selo

## German
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈloːzə/

### Etymology 1

From Old High German lōs. Cognate with English loose.

#### Alternative forms

* los (also a distinct word, but not separable in many contexts)

#### Adjective

lose (strong nominative masculine singular loser, comparative loser, superlative am losesten)
* loose, slack
    Die Schraube muss nachgezogen werden; sie ist etwas lose. ― The screw needs to be tightened; it is a bit loose.

##### Declension
### Etymology 2
#### Verb

lose
* inflection of losen:
** first-person singular present
** first/third-person singular subjunctive I
** singular imperative

### Further reading

* “lose” in Duden online
* “lose” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Verb

lose (present tense losar/loser, past tense losa/loste, past participle losa/lost, passive infinitive losast, present participle losande, imperative lose/los)
* Alternative spelling of lóse
* Alternative spelling of lòse

## Serbo-Croatian
### Noun

lose (Cyrillic spelling лосе)
* vocative singular of los

## Slovene
### Noun

lose
* accusative plural of los

## Spanish
### Verb

lose
* inflection of losar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative