(~r, ~st, ~s, loosing, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Something that is ~ is not firmly held or fixed in place.
If a tooth feels very ~, your dentist may recommend that it’s taken out...
Two wooden beams had come ~ from the ceiling...
She idly pulled at a ~ thread on her skirt.
ADJ
~ly
Tim clasped his hands together and held them ~ly in front of his belly.
ADV: ADV with v
2.
Something that is ~ is not attached to anything, or held or contained in anything.
Frank emptied a handful of ~ change on the table...
A page came ~ and floated onto the tiles.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
If people or animals break ~ or are set ~, they are no longer held, tied, or kept somewhere and can move around freely.
She broke ~ from his embrace and crossed to the window...
Why didn’t you tell me she’d been set ~?...
= free
ADJ: ADJ after v, ADJ n, v-link ADJ
4.
Clothes that are ~ are rather large and do not fit closely.
Wear ~ clothes as they’re more comfortable.
= baggy
? tight
ADJ
~ly
His shirt hung ~ly over his thin shoulders.
ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed
5.
If your hair is ~, it hangs freely round your shoulders and is not tied back.
She was still in her nightdress, with her hair hanging ~ over her shoulders.
ADJ
6.
If something is ~ in texture, there is space between the different particles or threads it consists of.
She gathered ~ soil and let it filter slowly through her fingers.
ADJ
7.
A ~ grouping, arrangement, or organization is flexible rather than strictly controlled or organized.
Murray and Alison came to some sort of ~ arrangement before he went home...
He wants a ~ coalition of leftwing forces.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
~ly
The investigation had aimed at a ~ly organised group of criminals.
ADV: ADV with v
8.
If a person or an animal is on the ~, they are free because they have escaped from a person or place.
Up to a thousand prisoners may be on the ~ inside the jail...
PHRASE: v-link PHR
9.
a ~ cannon: see cannon
all hell breaks ~: see hell