LOOSE

Meaning of LOOSE in English

I. adjective

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a loose alliance (= not strong )

▪

A loose alliance of opposition groups formed in 1990.

a loose connection ( also a tenuous connection formal ) (= one that is not strong, close, or obvious )

▪

There seemed to be only a loose connection between the questions and the answers.

a loose cough (= one that produces liquid )

loose dirt (= that you can brush off easily )

▪

Keep your pack clean by brushing off any loose dirt after use.

loose morals (= low standards of sexual behaviour – often used humorously )

▪

a young woman of loose morals

loose

▪

She tied the belt in a loose knot around her waist.

loose

▪

I had a loose tooth.

soft/loose curls (= gentle curves )

▪

long brown hair in soft curls

turned loose

▪

There are some criminals who cannot be turned loose onto the streets.

work (its way) loose

▪

One of the screws must have worked loose.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

too

▪

Both Hayman's suggestions were too loose and half-baked for a man of his devious cunning to consider seriously for a moment.

▪

Some feel that the school structure is too loose , allowing children too much freedom when choosing learning tasks.

▪

Her view of the West is that society's bonds are too loose there.

▪

The beds on Disturbed are all out of tune, too taut or too loose .

▪

So you must be relaxed to enable you to groove, but not so relaxed as to be too loose .

▪

They hung strangely, too loose , yet too short as well.

▪

They are usually coupled with pain but that correlation is too loose for reliability.

▪

However, inflation broke rank in the mid-1980s, when monetary policy was allowed to become too loose .

very

▪

The least sociable auk, breeding in very loose colonies, in crevices of cliffs and rocks.

▪

The colonial bonds between its constituents are very loose .

▪

M39 is very loose , but sufficiently condensed to make it obvious, particularly in view of the characteristic pattern of its leading stars.

▪

These distinctions are necessarily very loose and easily blurred when actual diagnosis is attempted.

▪

They have even been mistaken for a very loose cluster, though in fact they are not really associated with each other.

▪

The very loose cluster C 399 can be found by using Alpha and Beta Sagittæ as pointers.

▪

However, both arguments are spurious, for there is a very loose connection between tense and time.

▪

It doesn't have to be a close fit, initially you want a very loose fitting so there's a draught.

■ NOUN

alliance

▪

The Empire, a loose alliance of city-states and provinces owing allegiance to its Emperor, and the kingdom of Bretonnia.

▪

Some are loose alliances that use new technology to spread ideas and mobilise supporters.

ball

▪

The great satisfaction was that the aspects we concentrated on in training - defence and winning loose ball - worked out well.

▪

But Abdur-Rahim missed an off-balance shot and Jelani McCoy grabbed the loose ball .

▪

He went down on a loose ball and my boot landed on him.

▪

He lost the ball when he hit the turf but recovered the loose ball.

▪

Henderson scooped up the loose ball to score.

▪

The South-West's late try came when Clough was sent a hospital pass and Fallon booted the loose ball over the line.

▪

Three minutes later Sharp was denied by Chamberlain, but Milligan seized on the loose ball to score.

box

▪

Reminding himself that there was nothing to fear he set off, past the loose boxes with their heaps of shabby treasure.

▪

To his left was a long, shadowy, cobbled passage running beside what looked like barred loose boxes .

▪

The crammed loose boxes to his right seemed more menacing, as though the ugliest objects had been banished to this unvisited dungeon.

▪

The mule shook its head at Granny Weatherwax when they arrived at its loose box .

▪

The men slept ten to a box on stone floors and all companies were allotted loose boxes.

▪

William Springett also built a coach-house for two carriages and loose boxes under a crowning pediment.

cannon

▪

Of course the Palace can't afford to leave her as a loose cannon .

change

▪

Last night his hourly wage, about £8 in loose change was nicked from under his nose by scavenging ragamuffins.

▪

I fished around in my handbag, coming up with some loose change .

▪

A sharp eyed youngster should have no difficulty in spotting the loose change , that so often litter such areas.

▪

Arnold bought the club out of loose change .

▪

She would bring her loose change to Rachaela for translation into fifty-pence pieces and pounds.

▪

Bunny felt in his pocket, fiddling for loose change .

▪

Carry some loose change to make emergency public telephone calls.

▪

Pockets were emptied of loose change , parcels scanned as if for a malignant tumour and handbags rifled for evidence of evil intent.

earth

▪

Max leaned forward and gathered up a handful of loose earth and scattered it on the coffin.

▪

Walker Evans records a roughly piled grave of loose earth topped with the impermanent and unstable memorial of a dinner plate.

▪

Panic-stricken, he clutched at the loose earth at the sides of the pit and pulled himself to an upright position.

end

▪

They are all currently at a loose end , and loose ends are so easily snipped off.

▪

He was also at loose ends emotionally.

▪

There were still loose ends in her working week so her sister Sarah took it upon herself to tie them up.

▪

Rhoda had died a year or two ago, and we had heard that Ralph was at loose ends .

▪

One's best friend's cousin's daughter might well be at a loose end after leaving art college.

▪

He could not tell whether they were broken ends , or perhaps the loose ends from underwater knots that had come undone.

▪

Joey Bonanza doesn't like loose ends .

▪

The loose end was not splintered and cracked, but neatly finished.

federation

▪

A new constitution was adopted transforming a loose federation of affiliated organisations into a centralised national political party.

▪

They were something else, a loose federation of animals and plants united into an emergent superorganism exhibiting distinctive behavior.

▪

The Labour Party was ceasing to be a loose federation of political and industrial groups.

▪

This was a proposal for a loose federation of locally based groups.

fit

▪

In my own travels, I found a loose fit between learning that occurred at the workplace and in schools.

group

▪

Most other firms are also members of a looser group of some sort.

interpretation

▪

Car, she thought, was a loose interpretation .

▪

Here the somewhat looser interpretation of unity was used. with stress on the humanity side and moral choices.

soil

▪

The animal was attracted by the smell of the explosive and pawed at loose soil beneath a tree.

▪

Magnolias fare best in acidic, loose soil .

▪

The solid rocks have been weathered to form loose soil .

▪

Struggling out much later from the weight of corpses, crawling out of the loose soil .

▪

You should never wash roots before storing, but always gently rub off any loose soil .

▪

Remove any heavy loose soil by scraping.

▪

Use bulb-fibre, peat or a loose soil mixed with compost.

stone

▪

Boldly he kicked loose stones off the ledges and heard them clatter into the silence below.

▪

Then they were driving over rough ground, loose stones popping under the tyres.

▪

There aren't any loose stones .

▪

My brain feels like a loose stone in a dried leather pouch.

▪

I've been trying to find loose stones again.

▪

He moved lightly over the rough ground, dodging round bushes, avoiding every loose stone and broken twig.

▪

There is only one tall stone standing now and no white cross on the cairn-like mound of loose stones.

▪

Her left foot skittered on the loose stones , and she wobbled again, dangerously.

stool

▪

Sometimes parents had stopped the laxative because the stool withholding manoeuvres or screaming did not stop as soon as loose stools were induced.

▪

Warning: Consumers over the age of 16 are likely to experience severe indigestion, heartburn, regret and loose stools .

▪

It needs time to regain its normal elasticity and reduce in size so a period of loose stools is often desirable.

▪

Warning: Eaten in sufficient amounts, this product ensures bad breath, probable indigestion and pungent, loose stools .

▪

Parents may interpret this as very loose stools .

▪

Patients with active colitis had clinical symptoms of urgency, loose stools , abdominal pain, and blood in the stool.

woman

▪

The loosest woman is a stickler for etiquette and elocution.

▪

She said she was not a loose woman but that she had blood in her veins, not Sour milk.

▪

Here he encountered the bars and loose women and dance halls that would soon make him a famous artist.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

all hell broke loose

▪

Debbie told him to shut up, he slapped her, and then all hell broke loose.

▪

When a fan jumped onto the stage, all hell broke loose.

▪

A sparrow hawk appeared - and all hell broke loose!

▪

And then, all hell broke loose.

▪

But then all hell broke loose, geologically speaking, as increasing numbers of sources for the rock were discovered.

▪

Journalists woke him up in his bed with the news and, as I suspected, all hell broke loose.

▪

Not at all bad considering that all hell broke loose in September and the City was rocked by events outside its control.

▪

She started to strip off, all hell broke loose and he bolted while plain-clothes officers moved in to stage a cover-up.

▪

What actually happened was that I was as drunk as anybody in the barracks the night all hell broke loose.

▪

When the story was leaked to the press, all hell broke loose.

come open/undone/loose etc

▪

As she reached the doors they came open, the button pressed by two people outside.

▪

His heart felt it would come loose in his body, so wildly was it beating.

▪

Some ropes had come loose and were swinging wildly in the wind.

▪

Then she felt something on her arm and discovered her scarf had come undone.

▪

Then sprinkle on water and re-trowel in come loose-use an emulsion paint brush.

▪

Think of all the things that come loose around the house.

▪

When the Thayer principalship came open in the summer of 1981, Littky applied and reentered the educational world.

have a screw loose

▪

"Fernando can be really weird sometimes." "Yeah, he's got a screw loose, no question."

play fast and loose with sth

▪

And there is his willingness to play fast and loose with the facts.

▪

Besides, it is playing fast and loose with the statistics to take 1981 as the baseline for the Government's claims.

▪

In what follows, I shall play fast and loose with these words and the subtle distinctions between them.

▪

They probably see it as a place where government plays fast and loose with tax dollars.

▪

To say that the Wattersons had played fast and loose with their investors' capital was an understatement.

set sb free/loose

▪

After six years in prison, Louis was set free.

tear loose

▪

At what stage did her briefs tear loose?

▪

He had heard the pounding, too, and thought a storm shutter had torn loose.

▪

In recent months they have begun to tear loose from this platform.

▪

One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard to be smothered by the driving spray.

▪

One of the clouds over Bald Hill tore loose and floated down the sky toward us.

▪

The great ice bridge had torn loose from its foundations and was starting to move downstream toward the Whirlpool.

▪

The piece of paper tore loose.

▪

Tightness throughout the abdomen making it impossible to cough or strain for fear that something will burst or will tear loose.

tie up loose ends

▪

His new movie will tie up some of the loose ends from the last one.

▪

There are still a few loose ends to tie up before we have an agreement.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪

a loose group of local organizations

▪

a loose interpretation of the law

▪

a loose screw

▪

a loose tooth

▪

a loose woman

▪

A looser interpretation of the law would lead to more convictions.

▪

In hot weather, loose cotton clothes are more comfortable.

▪

linen cloth with a loose weave

▪

My shoelaces are loose .

▪

One of Sean's front teeth is loose .

▪

One of the hinges on the box was coming loose .

▪

She wore a long, loose linen jacket.

▪

Some of the floorboards are loose and they creak when you walk on them.

▪

The garage claimed it was just a loose connection.

▪

The guitar strings were loose , but none were broken.

▪

The term "empire' is often loosely applied to a federation of states.

▪

The title is a loose translation of the Korean original.

▪

The top fitted me, but the shorts were a little loose round the waist.

▪

There must be a wire loose , because this light isn't working.

▪

This is only a loose translation of the original paper.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪

A sparrow hawk appeared - and all hell broke loose !

▪

He didn't bathe, his teeth got loose .

▪

It was as though she'd been let loose from shackles she hadn't even known she'd been wearing.

▪

Joey Bonanza doesn't like loose ends.

▪

Searching the cloaks turns up a few loose buttons and an Imperial silver shilling. 20.

▪

There are two classes of relationships; loose coupling and tight coupling.

▪

They saw themselves as having a consultative decision-making style, using relatively loose follow-up, and being very open to persuasion.

II. verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ VERB

cut

▪

To cut it loose now could be to see it sink.

▪

Using his one good hand, he inched down to Angerer and with his ice axe cut him loose .

let

▪

He seemed to have forgotten about only letting me loose on water.

▪

The last time the siren had been let loose was just two months before.

▪

And there was absolutely no reason why a single cancer cell should ever be let loose in any part of our body.

▪

He said as much when he finally let things loose .

▪

And it was Alec who let them loose .

▪

We are about to make machines as complex as grasshoppers and let them loose in the world.

▪

I let the girl loose and pushed her towards my wife.

▪

As if all that were not trouble enough, the landlord lets a goat loose in the flat.

turn

▪

It must be something serious to turn the students loose on it.

▪

With that he turns them loose to use the field manuals around the room to pick an animal to study.