lose.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.
Meaning & usage
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.
If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry.
He lost his hearing in the explosion.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. 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.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. To shed (weight).
I’ve lost five pounds this week.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. 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.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. To pay or owe (some wager) due from an unsuccessful bet or gamble.
Frank had lost $500 staying in Vegas.
To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. To be deprived of (some right or privileged access to something).
To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
I lost my way in the forest.
To become a defeated competitor in (a game, competition, trial, etc).
We lost the football match.
You just lost The Game.
To be defeated (in a game, competition, contest, etc.)
The team scored four goals but still managed to lose.
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.
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.
To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion).
To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.
When we get into the building, please lose the hat.
Lose that extra space on the left.
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.
To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.
To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
She moved out of hearing and I lost the end of the sentence.
Where this word comes from
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.
Alternative form of loos (“praise; fame; reputation”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.