loose
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: lo͞os
ipa: /luːs/
ipa: /ˈlʉs/
rhymes: -uːs
Forms: form: looser
form: loosest
Etymology: From Middle English loos, los, lous, from Old Norse lauss, from Proto-Germanic *lausaz, whence also -less, leasing; from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- (“to untie, set free, separate”), whence also lyo-, -lysis, via Ancient Greek.
Senses: examples: text: This wheelbarrow has a loose wheel.
glosses: Not fixed in place tightly or firmly.
examples: text: You can buy apples in a pack, but they are cheaper loose.
glosses: Not held or packaged together.
examples: text: The dog is loose again.
text: The very idea of a machine set loose to slaughter is chilling.
ref: 2020 October 15, Frank Pasquale, “‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI”, in The Guardian:
text: Now I stand / Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts?
ref: 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 4:
glosses: Not under control.
examples: text: I wear loose clothes when it is hot.
glosses: Not fitting closely.
examples: text: It is difficult walking on loose gravel.
text: a cloth of loose texture
text: with horse and chariots ranked in loose array
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: Not compact.
examples: text: She danced with a loose flowing movement.
glosses: Relaxed.
examples: text: a loose way of reasoning
text: The comparison employed […] must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation.
ref: 1858, William Whewell, The history of scientific ideas:
glosses: Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate.
examples: text: Loose talk costs lives.
glosses: Indiscreet.
examples: text: In all these he was much and deeply read; / But not a page of any thing that's loose, / Or hints continuation of the species, / Was ever suffer'd, lest he should grow vicious.
ref: 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, section I:
text: to seeke her errant Knight; / And then againe resolu'd to hunt him out / Amongst loose Ladies, lapped in delight
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5:
text: the loose morality which he had learned
ref: 1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC:
glosses: Free from moral restraint; immoral, unchaste.
examples: text: He caught an elbow going after a loose ball.
text: The puck was momentarily loose right in front of the net.
text: Tomas Rosicky released the left-back with a fine pass but his low cross was cut out by Ivan Marcano. However the Brazilian was able to collect the loose ball, cut inside and roll a right-footed effort past Franco Costanzo at his near post.
ref: 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Not being in the possession of any competing team during a game.
examples: text: People that are very loose, have seldom strong Thoughts, or strong Bodies
ref: 1693, [John Locke], “(please specify the section number)”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Not costive; having lax bowels.
coordinate_terms: stacked
solid
glosses: Measured loosely stacked or disorganized (such as of firewood).
raw_tags: of volumes of materials
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
motor-racing
racing
sports
glosses: Having oversteer.
raw_tags: of a stock car
Synonyms: sense: not fixed in place tightly or firmly
word: unfastened
word: unsecured
sense: not held or packaged together
word: separate
sense: not held or packaged together
word: unpackaged
sense: not bound or tethered or leashed
word: free
sense: not bound or tethered or leashed
word: untethered
sense: not fitting closely
word: baggy
word: loose-fitting
sense: not compact
word: diffuse
word: spaced out
word: diffuse
sense: relaxed
word: loose-limbed
word: relaxed
word: carefree
sense: indiscreet
word: indiscreet
sense: promiscuous
word: promiscuous
word: slutty
word: tarty
word: whorish
word: promiscuous
word: loose
word: unstapled
Hypernyms: word: portable
Hyponyms: word: overloose
word: ultraloose
word: sandish
word: shattery
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: a few roos loose in the top paddock
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: a kangaroo loose in the top paddock
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: all bedlam breaks loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: all hell breaks loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: a roo loose in the top paddock
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: at a loose end
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: at loose ends
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: break loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: cast loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: cut loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: cut one loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: cut someone loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: false loose smut
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: fast and loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: footloose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: hang loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: hang-loose sign
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: have a loose screw
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: have a screw loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: kick loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: let loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: let one loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: let someone loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose ablative
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose as a goose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-box
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose box
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose cannon
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose change
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose connection
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose construction
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose constructionism
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-coupled
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose coupling
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose edge
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose end
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose ends
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosefill
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose fish
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-fitting
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-handed
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-handedly
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-handedness
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose head
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosehead
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosejaw
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-knit
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: looseleaf
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-leaf
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose lip
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-lipped
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose lips sink ships
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosely
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-meat sandwich
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose motion
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosen
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: looseness
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose scrum
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose smut
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose socks
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose tongue
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-tongued
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose-toothed
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose up
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loose woman
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosey
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: loosish
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: on the loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: outloose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: overloose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: play fast and loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: screw loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: semiloose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: set loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: sit loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: stay loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: talk fast and loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: tie up loose ends
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: turn loose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: ultraloose
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: unloosable
sense: Terms derived from the adjective loose
word: unloose
Related terms: word: rickety
word: separate