/ luːz; NAmE / verb
( lost , lost / lɒst; NAmE lɑːst; lɔːst/)
NOT FIND
1.
[ vn ] to be unable to find sth/sb
SYN mislay :
I've lost my keys.
The tickets seem to have got lost .
She lost her husband in the crowd.
HAVE STH / SB TAKEN AWAY
2.
[ vn ] to have sth/sb taken away from you as a result of an accident, getting old, dying, etc. :
She lost a leg in a car crash.
to lose your hair / teeth (= as a result of getting old)
He's lost his job .
Some families lost everything (= all they owned) in the flood.
They lost both their sons (= they were killed) in the war.
The ship was lost at sea (= it sank) .
Many people lost their lives (= were killed) .
3.
[ vn ] lose sth (to sb) to have sth taken away by sb/sth :
The company has lost a lot of business to its competitors.
4.
[ vn ] to have to give up sth; to fail to keep sth :
You will lose your deposit if you cancel the order.
Sit down or you'll lose your seat.
HAVE LESS
5.
[ vn ] to have less and less of sth, especially until you no longer have any of it :
He lost his nerve at the last minute.
She seemed to have lost interest in food.
At that moment he lost his balance and fell.
I've lost ten pounds since I started this diet.
The train was losing speed .
NOT UNDERSTAND / HEAR
6.
[ vn ] to fail to get, hear or understand sth :
His words were lost (= could not be heard) in the applause.
7.
[ vn ] ( informal ) to be no longer understood by sb :
I'm afraid you've lost me there.
ESCAPE
8.
[ vn ] to escape from sb/sth
SYN evade , shake off :
We managed to lose our pursuers in the darkness.
NOT WIN
9.
lose (sth) (to sb) | lose (sth) (by sth) to be defeated; to fail to win a competition, a court case, an argument, etc. :
[ vn ]
to lose a game / a race / an election / a battle / a war
[ v ]
We lost to a stronger team.
He lost by less than 100 votes.
NOT KEEP
10.
lose (sth) (on sth / by doing sth) | lose sb sth to fail to keep sth you want or need, especially money; to cause sb to fail to keep sth :
[ vn ]
The business is losing money.
Poetry always loses something in translation.
You have nothing to lose by telling the truth.
[ v ]
We lost on that deal.
[ vnn ]
His carelessness lost him the job.
TIME
11.
[ vn ] to waste time or an opportunity :
We lost twenty minutes changing a tyre.
Hurry— there's no time to lose !
He lost no time in setting out for London.
12.
if a watch or clock loses or loses time , it goes too slowly or becomes a particular amount of time behind the correct time :
[ vn ]
This clock loses two minutes a day.
[also v ]
OPP gain
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IDIOMS
Most idioms containing lose are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example lose your bearings is at bearing .
- lose it
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PHRASAL VERBS
- lose yourself in sth
- lose out (on sth)
- lose out to sb/sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English losian perish, destroy , also become unable to find , from los loss .