Word: lose Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English losen, from Old English losian. The modern pronunciation with /uː/ (instead of the /oʊ~əʊ/ that would be expected from Early Modern /ɔː/) is due to conflation with loose. Pronunciation: /luːz/, /luz/, /lʉːz/, /lɒs/, /lɔːz/ 1. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry. Example: He lost his hearing in the explosion. 2. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy. Example: He lost his spleen in a car wreck. 3. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: I’ve lost five pounds this week. 4. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: She lost all her sons in the war. Example: 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. 5. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: Frank had lost $500 staying in Vegas. 6. To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. Labels: transitive Example: Users who engage in disruptive behavior may lose their accounts. 7. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from. Labels: transitive Example: I lost my way in the forest. Example: He hath lost his fellows. 8. To become a defeated competitor in (a game, competition, trial, etc). Labels: transitive Example: We lost the football match. Example: You just lost The Game. 9. To be defeated (in a game, competition, contest, etc.) Labels: intransitive Example: The team scored four goals but still managed to lose. 10. To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer. Labels: transitive Example: The policeman lost the robber he was chasing. Example: Mission control lost the satellite as its signal died down. 11. To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer. Labels: transitive Example: lose the cops Example: We managed to lose our pursuers in the forest. 12. To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion). Labels: transitive Example: 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. Example: 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. 13. To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate. Labels: informal, transitive Example: When we get into the building, please lose the hat. Example: Lose that extra space on the left. 14. Of a clock, to run slower than expected. Labels: transitive Example: My watch loses five minutes a week. Example: It's already 5:30? My watch must have lost a few minutes. 15. To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of. Labels: ditransitive Example: O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory. Example: 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? 16. To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss. Labels: transitive Example: She moved out of hearing and I lost the end of the sentence.