▪ I. † lose, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 3–5 (9 arch.) los, (4 looz), 4–5 loes, loose, 4–6 loos, lose, Sc. loiss, (5 loce, Sc. loyse, 6 Sc. loze, loys), 5–6 loss(e, Sc. lois.
[a. OF. los, loz, loos:—L. laudēs, pl. of laus praise.]
Praise; renown, fame. Also in neutral sense, (good or bad) reputation; occas. ill fame. out of lose: to one's dispraise.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3917 Þe kinges los so wyde sprong ynow..þat hor herte to him drou. a 1300 Cursor M. 8750 Of þis doom [of Solomon's] fer sprong þe loos. 1340 Ayenb. 26 Ypocrites þet..doþ manie penonces an guode principalliche uor þe los of þe wordle. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. vi. (Skeat) l. 179 Yevynge me name of badde loos. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 351 A Duc..Which was a worthi kniht of los. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) x. 89 In that time there weren 3 Heroudes, of gret Name and Loos for here crueltee. 14.. Lydg. Flour of Curtesye 234 Lest out of lose any word asterte In this metre, to make it seme lame. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 313/2 Loos or bad name, infamia. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 141 He did nocht his dedis of honour..for hir sake, but for his awin los. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxii. 202 Youre knyghtes of good lose. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. iii. 51 O glory and renown of loys, in vayn. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 244 That thy loze, ne name may neuer dye. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. xii. 12 Besides the losse of so much loos and fame. 1825 Scott Talism. vii, I am a belted knight, and come hither to acquire los and fame in this mortal life. |
▪ II. lose, n.2 slang.
(luːz)
[f. lose v.1]
An instance of losing (a race). lose bet, lose game, one in which the loser of the game wins the stakes.
| 1884 Illustr. Lond. News Nov. 410/3 The rate of pay recognised by the Jockey Club, which is five guineas for a ‘win’, and three guineas for a ‘lose’. 1964 A. Wykes Gambling vi. 143 (caption) A ‘lose’ bet is that the shooter will throw a crap. 1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXV. 268 High-risk bets are again more typical of the lose game. |
▪ III. lose, v.1
(luːz)
Forms: 1 losian, 2–3 losie(n, 5 Sc. loyse, 5–6 losse, Sc. lois(s, 5, Sc. 6– loss, 5–8 loose, 6 Sc. los, loce, (loase, 7 loze), 3– lose. pa. tense. 1 losode, -ade, 1–3 -ede, 4 Sc. losit, 4–6 loste, Sc. lossit, -yt, 6 Sc. loissit, loussit, (7 loosed, losed), 3– lost. pa. pple. 1 (ᵹe)losod, -ad, 3 ilosed, -et, 3–5 ilost, 4 losed, 4–5 i-, ylost(e, 4–6 loste, (Sc. losit, -yt, 5–6 loissit, lossit, -yt, 6 loist, loseit, 7 loissed), 3– lost.
[OE. losian, f. los loss, used almost exclusively intr. (sense 1); sometimes with indirect obj. in dative, as me losode hit = I lost it. The transitive use, which occurs twice in ONorthumbrian and appears in general use early in 13th c., seems to have arisen partly from interchange of function between the indirect obj. and the subj. where these were not distinguishable by case-form (cf. like v., loathe v.), and partly from the perfect conjugated with be (OE. hit is ᵹelosod = it is lost), which admits of being apprehended as passive. The later sense-development of the vb. has been influenced by the cognate leese v., with which it became synonymous, and which it in the end superseded.
The regular mod. Eng. pronunciation repr. OE. losian would be (ləʊz); the standard Eng. pronunciation (luːz) seems to be due to association with loose v., which in some contexts (e.g. to loose hold) closely approaches this vb. in meaning. Many dialects have the phoentic form normally descending from the OE. vb. The Sc. form loss is prob. evolved from the pa. tense and pa. pple. lost.]
† 1. intr. To perish; also, to be lost or missing.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxi. §2 Swa swa seo beo sceal losian þon heo hwæt irringa stingð. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. xxx. 205 Ðætte nu foraldod is ðæt is forneah losad. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 245 Forþan þe ic imete mi sceap þe me losede. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 117 Þenne losiað fele saulen. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 907 Þer lyuez lyste may neuer lose. |
† 2. a. trans. To destroy, ruin, bring to destruction or perdition; to be the ruin of. Obs.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xvii. 27 And cuom Þæt flod & losade vel spilde alle. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 909 Alle þe londe with þise ledez we losen at-onez. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 49 Þe kyng..sent his ostis and loste þese mansleeris. c 1440 Jacob's Well iii. 23 Þou schalt haue als manye peynes as þou hast loste soules! 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour lxxxiv. G viij, The fyre sprang oute and loste his hand. 1538 Bale God's Promises ii. (1744) 11 Lose hym not yet, Lorde, though he hath depely sworved. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 845 Lest heat, wet, wind, should roste, or rot, or lose it. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 205 What to our selues in passion we propose, The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 1628 tr. Mathieu's Powerfull Favorite 122 marg., We ought not proudly to despise prodegies, this neglect lost Alexander. |
b. To ruin in estimation. rare.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 236 Such a tongue, That I am glad I haue not, though not to haue it, Hath lost me in your liking. 1677 Sedley Ant. & Cl. v. i. Wks. (1766) 191 'Twas I that lost you in each Roman mind. 1882 J. C. Morison Macaulay 44 His want of aspiration..has lost him in the opinion of many readers. |
c. pass. To be brought to destruction, ruin, or misery; to perish; to be killed; in a spiritual sense (of the soul), to be damned. Of a ship, its crew, passengers, or cargo: To perish at sea.
| [c 897: see 1.] a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxvi. 99 Ichabbe be losed mony a day. c 1366 Chaucer A.B.C. 152, I am wounded..Þat j am lost almost. c 1375 Cursor M. 6006 (Fairf.) Dede & loste was al þaire fe. c 1397 Chaucer Lack Stedf. 7 Al is loste for lac of stedfastnesse. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 507, I trow nocht ȝeit at Wallace losyt be: Our clerkys sayis, he sall ger mony de. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxi. 63 Yf ye speke to hym ye are lost for euer. a 1533 ― Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) E vii b, To play at the tables and dice with suche as be lost and naught. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. i. 332 By this meanes God is dishonoured, and man lost in all parts by idolatry. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 52 All lost, to prayers, to prayers, all lost. 1713 Addison Cato iv. i. 46 The Woman that Deliberates is lost. 1781 Cowper Truth 479 And is the soul indeed so lost! 1798 Monthly Mag. VI. 437 (Scotticisms) Poor man, he was lost in the river; drowned. 1817 Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 921 The property insured was lost. 1861 J. A. Alexander Gosp. Jesus Christ xiii. 182 You are not in danger of perdition, but are lost already. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 60/2 The vessel..sank in a short time, all hands being lost. |
3. To incur the privation of (something that one possesses or has control of); to part with through negligence or misadventure; to be deprived of. a. with obj. a material or immaterial possession, lands, goods, a right, quality, etc. † occas. with away, up, (? U.S. rare) out.
| c 1205 Lay. 29159 Þus losede Bruttes al þas kine-londes. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 272 Þou losis þi dignite. 1427 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 295 The accusere shal losse his fraunches for ever. a 1470 Gregory in Hist. Coll. Lond. Cit. (Camden) 189 That same yere was the most pa[r]te of Normandy y-loste. 14.. Childe of Bristowe 402 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 125 Thu has played atte dice,..and lost up, sone, that thu had. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 6 He lost away and wasted..his londes and goodes. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 66 In all, the Christians loosed but eleuen Gallies. 1779 Cowper Yearly Distress 55 One talks..of pigs that he has lost By maggots at the tail. 1869 H. Bushnell New Life viii. 110 The child brought up a thief gets an infinite power of cunning..and loses out just as much in the power of true perception. 1878 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. II. 458 Sir Joseph Yorke told him that he would lose his place if he did not keep his temper. |
b. with obj. a limb, a faculty, one's life, etc. to lose one's head: see head n.1 56. to lose heart: to become discouraged. to lose one's heart: to fall in love. † to lose one's breath: to die. to lose one's legs (slang): to get drunk. to lose one's nerve (nerve n. 10): to become scared, uneasy. to lose sleep over (or about, for, etc., something): to worry about (something) (usu. in negative contexts).
| c 1205 Lay. 25918 Hire lif heo losede sone. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 586 If he has losed the lysten. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VII. 315 Makynge a statute that whosoever toke a beste þer scholde lose oon eie. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. ix. 130 Syr Arthur lost so moche blood that it was merueille he stode on his feet. 15.. in Lett. Roy. & Illustr. Ladies (1846) II. 4 She was like to have lost her mind. 1530 Palsgr. 429/2, I am spechelesse, as a sycke body is that hath lost the use of his speche. 1596 B. Griffin Fidessa vi, Oh better were I loose ten thousand breaths, Than euer liue in such vnseene disgrace. 1597 Bacon Coulers Gd. & Evill (Arb.) 152 As to a monoculos it is more to loose one eye, then to a man that hath two eyes. 1633 Ford Broken H. iii. v, 'Tis long agone since first I lost my heart. 1671 Milton Samson 914 Though sight be lost, Life yet hath many solaces. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 60 ¶4 In a little Time after he lost his Senses. 1744 Ozell tr. Brantome's Sp. Rhodomontades 186 As soon as They were dead, every one lost Heart, having lost their Chief Supports. 1749 G. Lavington Enthus. Methodists & Papists ii. vi. (1752) 46 A religious Nun, devoted to St. Xavier, famed for Skill in Music and a fine Voice, had her Voice lost by a Hoarsness for ten Years. 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 560 To express the Condition of an Honest Fellow and no Flincher under the Effects of Good Fellowship, he is said to..[have] Lost his legs. 1804 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 193 She..rode to Southampton, where she lost some blood. 1842 Tennyson E. Gray 3 And have you lost your heart?..And are you married yet? 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii. 253 She acquired an influence over the mind of the destitute child that she never lost. 1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 739/1 There's nothing here to lose one's nerve about. 1934 G. B. Shaw Too True to be Good iii. 86 When I was wounded and lost my nerve for flying, I became an army chaplain. 1942 H. C. Bailey Dead Man's Shoes iv. 19 ‘I'd like to know why you didn't tell me.’ ‘You told me not to lose any sleep over it.’ 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral ii. 41 ‘I wasn't losing any sleep for them.’.. ‘Those two have been at this for years.’ 1959 [see chancer n.]. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 241 It's not the sort of thing I lose sleep over. 1967 J. Porter Dover & Unkindest Cut of All x. 109 Dover hadn't lost any sleep over them... ‘You can't win 'em all,’ he used to say. 1971 Guardian 10 July 9/1 Stolid and conservative Midwesterners..never lost much sleep over the Negroes' troubles. 1974 Ibid. 18 Mar. 6/5 Although increasing restrictions on immigration..had been criticised..it is doubtful whether the immigrants themselves have lost much sleep over them. 1975 Times 24 Feb. 14/7 You just have to get straight back on, or else you lose your nerve. The others are far more concerned with the loose horse than the girl lying face down in the dirt. |
c. With obj. a person: To be deprived of (a relative, friend, servant, etc.) by death, by local separation, or by severance of the relationship. Also, in somewhat specific sense, of a commander, an army: To suffer loss of (men) by death, capture, wounds, etc. Of a medical man: To fail to preserve the life of (a patient). Also, to fail to give birth to (a live baby); to suffer a miscarriage of (a pregnancy), or the death of (a baby) soon after its birth (colloq.).
| c 1205 Lay. 5704 Heo loseden monie þusend godere monnen. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 78 We losten alle oure housbondes at that toun. c 1460 Towneley Myst. v. 48 Why shuld I apon a day loyse both my sonnes? 1530 Palsgr. 749/2 The folysshe gyrle toke on for thought as if she had loste her father she coulde have done no more. 1722 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 117 The apprehensions of losing such a friend. 1780 Westm. Mag. VIII. 249 The Resolution had the good luck to come up with the Prothée..and took her without losing a man. 1842 Browning Waring i. iv, How much I loved him, I find out now I've lost him. 1847 Tennyson Princess i. 256 When we came where lies the child We lost in other years. 1880 Wheeler Short Hist. India 604 The English had lost more than 2,400 officers and men. 1882 S. Wells Ovar. & Uterine Tumours 185 He [McDowell] lost only the last of his first five cases of ovariotomy. 1883 Howells Woman's Reason II. xx. 176 She had lost her father, who died very suddenly a few days after he sailed. 1895 George Battles Eng. Hist. 208 While Wellington lost about 1300 men, Massena lost considerably over three times that number. 1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude iv. 148 He's unhappy now because he thinks he isn't able to give me a child. And I'm unhappy because I've lost my child. 1958 L. Uris Exodus (1959) ii. x. 264 For five consecutive years she lost children through early miscarriages. 1975 G. Bourne Pregnancy (1981) viii. 120 Pseudocyesis..occurs in some women who have lost a pregnancy or a baby. 1986 J. B. Hilton Moondrop to Murder xvi. 142 She finally gave up hope of losing her baby. She had prayed that exertion, fatigue, suspense and terror would loosen that embryo from the walls of her womb. |
d. To fail to maintain (a position, a state of mind or body), e.g. to lose patience, lose one's temper, to lose caste, lose hold, lose one's balance, etc. to lose ground: to fail to keep one's position; esp. fig. to decline in reputation, favour, health, etc.
| [1436: see ground n. 11.] 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. ix. 131 But alweyes he helde vp his shelde and lost no ground nor bated no chere. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 27 At length, the left winge of the Arcadians began to loose ground. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 53 How had they almost made me to lose my patience, and my judgement! 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. I. xvi. 68 They brake their staves bravely, without losing their saddles. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 838 They astonisht all resistance lost, All courage. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 291 A Current setting to Leeward, we rather lost than got ground. 1775 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 13 June, Boswell is a favourite but he has lost ground since I told them that he is married. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. iv. 379 Those suspicions were not likely to lose ground. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xi, Chuffey boggled over his plate so long, that Mr. Jonas, losing patience, took it from him at last. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 320 He has lost caste and lost all ground of glorying. |
e. occas. To cease to have, to get rid of (something undesirable, e.g. an ailment).
| 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 607 To loose In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe. 1677 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 42 The Dutchesse hath had an ague in her lyeing inne but hath soone lost it. 1742 W. Collins Hassan 83 O! let me teach my heart to lose its fears. 1859 Mrs. Trevelyan Let. in Trevelyan Life Macaulay (1876) II. xv. 477 Never, as long as I live, can I lose the sense of misery that I ever left him after Christmas day. a 1903 Mod. I have not yet lost my rheumatism. |
f. Of a thing: To be deprived of or part with (a portion of itself, a quality, or appurtenance). Also with off.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 221 Þe day lost his coloure, & mirk was as þe nyght. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 288 Til that the brighte sonne loste his hewe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 239 This deceit looses the name of craft. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. 99 The Air such pleasure loth to lose, With thousand echo's still prolongs each heav'nly close. 1784 Cowper Task i. 648 And have thy joys Lost nothing by comparison with ours? 1874 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. II. 717, I think that tin buckets are preferable for catching sap to wooden ones, as they..have no hoops to lose off. 1881 Le Conte Sight 51 When..the hypermetropic eye loses its power of adjustment. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iv. x. 233 Her household duties had lost their interest. 1906 Dialect Notes III. 145 A wheel lost off as they were driving to town. |
† g. with cognate obj., to lose a loss. Also, to lose (= incur) a fine. Obs.
| 1498 Old City Acc. Bk. in Archæol. Jrnl. XLIII, Item for a fyne lost by John Stone..xxd. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxxvii. 109 The countrey of Bierne this hundred yere neuer loste suche a losse. a 1541 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 87 Graunt them good Lord,..To freate inward, for losyng such a losse. 1614 S. Ward Let. in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 33 We have lost..a great loss by Mr. Casaubon's untimely decease. |
† h. with inf.: To be deprived of the power or opportunity (of doing something). Obs.
| 1616 B. Jonson Forest, Ep. Lady Aubigny 4 What th' haue lost t' expect, they dare deride. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 378 Though I have lost..To be belov'd of God, I have not lost To love. |
i. The pass. is often used without any reference to a determinate person or thing as ‘losing’; e.g. (of an art, etc.) to cease to be known or practised; (of a quality, etc.) to cease to be present. Cf. lost ppl. a.
| 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 429 This God-like act Annuls thy doom, the death thou shouldst have dy'd, In sin for ever lost from life. 1670 Ray Prov. 117 It's not lost that comes at last. All is not lost that is in danger. 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. (Globe) 505 The name of its author being wholly lost. 1722 Quincy Lex. Physico-Med. (ed. 2) 264/1 In all Percussions the Stroke is proportional to the Force lost. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Cowley, If what he thinks be true, that his numbers are unmusical only when they are ill-read, the art of reading them is at present lost. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 90 Surely a precious thing..Should thus be lost for ever from the earth. 1870 M. Arnold St. Paul & Protestantism (1900) 69 From which [chapters] Paul's whole theology, if all his other writings were lost, might be reconstructed. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 818 The quality of the voice may be unaltered or completely lost. |
j. to lose a dinner (or lose a meal): to vomit (what one has recently eaten).
Examples are Austral. and U.S.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 44 Lose a meal, to vomit up food. 1952 M. R. Rinehart Swimming Pool xxv. 227 I'm going to lose my dinner. |
4. absol. or intr. a. To suffer loss; to cease to possess something; to be deprived of or part with some of his or its possessions, attributes, or qualities; to become deteriorated or incur disadvantage.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 41 Ha beon eauer feard for to losen [elsewhere, and here in MS. Bodl. leosen]. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 336 Now want, now has; now loss, now can wyn. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 101 Thou shalt not loose by it. 1611 Bible Eccl. iii. 6 A time to get, and a time to lose. 1643 J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea iv. (1652) 75 There is nothing lost in being willing to lose for God. 1697 Dryden Ded. æneis Ess. (ed. Ker) II. 229 Thus, by gaining abroad, he lost at home. 1838 Macaulay Temple Ess. (1887) 440 He never put himself prominently before the public eye, except at conjunctures when he was almost certain to gain and could not possibly lose. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxvii, 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. 1895 George Battles Eng. Hist. 313 Fortunately the Sikhs had lost so severely that no evil consequences followed. 1898 Folk-Lore Sept. 198 The other was undertaken by a publisher, who lost on it. Mod. Both armies lost heavily. |
b. Of an immaterial thing: To be deprived of its power or force. rare.
| 1794 Mrs. Piozzi Synon. II. 56 Our authors plunder French comedies in vain; the humour loses and evaporates. 1900 R. J. Drummond Relat. Apost. Teach. i. 33 The words are only understood in their setting. They lose immensely when isolated. |
c. Const. in, † of, with partitive sense.
| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. v. 163 Gold alwayes worn in the same purse with silver loses both of the colour and weight. 1753 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 33 These Allurements soon began to lose of their Influence. 1791 Boswell Johnson (1831) I. 86 Hawkins told him it would lose of its beauty if it were so published. 1802 Beddoes Hygëia v. 54 Every muscle, steeped in a heated medium, loses of its contractility. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. July 441/2 A bird does not gather speed when sailing in the air, as a falling stone would, neither does it lose in pace. 1913 Q. Rev. Oct. 413 As a consequence the work loses in freshness and even in clearness. 1947 Harrap's Stand. French & Eng. Dict. II. 728/2 The incident did not lose in the telling... To lose in value, in interest. |
d. orig. U.S. to lose out: to be unsuccessful, to fail.
| 1858 H. Bushnell Sermons for New Life ix. 176 The child brought up a thief gets an infinite power of cunning..and loses out just as much in the power of true perception. 1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny iv. 66, I know you've lost out some by not having me to typewrite 'em. 1913 E. D. Biggers Seven Keys to Baldpate xiii. 165 But it's over, and you've lost out. 1930 C. Johnson Negro in Amer. Civilisation (1931) xxvi. 396 Is it not true that the Negro female is losing out in personal service? So often newspapers are specifying white in their want ads. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. xvii. 133 Daladier made a bid for the premiership and lost out because Briand would not play ball with him. 1947 ‘G. Orwell’ Eng. People 38 The American tendency is to burden every verb with a preposition that adds nothing to its meaning (win out, lose out, face up to, etc.). 1959 Encounter Sept. 16/1 It will probably lose out in the competition. 1963 S. Douglas Years of Combat x. 251 Tracers might come whistling past one's ears, indicating all too clearly that the enemy..was on the attack. If that happened it meant that we had lost out in the preliminary tactical manoeuvrings. 1966 Listener 10 Mar. 337/2 It could be that both China and America are losing out to the Russians. 1971 Guardian 23 July 5/2 We are going to lose out unless the Government are prepared to do a tremendous public relations job for the tourist industry here. 1972 Newsweek 10 July 15/2 Rep. Bella Abzug..lost out in her bid for a second term in Congress. 1973 Times 30 June 13/6 The monstrous proliferation of redundant prepositions in the ever more popular usages ‘check up on’, ‘lose out to’, ‘meet up with’. |
e. Of a clock, watch, etc.: to become slow (slow a. 12); to indicate a time earlier than the correct time. Also trans., to run slow by the amount of (a specified period).
| 1861, 1870, 1917 [see gain v.2 3 d]. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VIII. 81/2 A pendulum clock with a steel rod loses 2½ seconds per day for a rise of temperature of 10°F. 1972 Which? Aug. 244 At the same time each day the amount they had gained or lost was noted, and they were wound. |
5. a. To become, permanently or temporarily, unable to find in one's own possession or custody; to cease to know the whereabouts of (a portable object, an animal, etc.) because it has strayed or gone unawares from one's possession, or has simply been mislaid.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 4 ᵹif forlorað vel losað enne of ðæm. 1382 Wyclif Luke xv. 4 What man of ȝou that hath an hundrid scheep, and if he hath lost oon of hem [etc.]. c 1422 Hoccleve Jonathas 318 Y haue a fere..thow woldest it leese, As thow lostist my ryng. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 37 My Sone was loste, and now is found. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 23 Like a Schoole-boy that had lost his A.B.C. 1655 tr. Com. Hist. Francion vii. 12 We demanded if they had not taken up a hawk which we had lost. 1718 Prior Dove 8 Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her favourite dove. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 110 She told me Mr. B―n had lost his Hat. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 179 Since her horse was lost I left her mine. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 5 Humanity had lost its title-deeds and he had recovered them. |
b. To fail to keep in sight. Also, to lose sight of (lit. and fig.): see sight. Also occas., to cease to hear (poet.); † to fail to follow (a person) in argument (obs. or arch.).
| 1587 Ianes in Hakluyt Voy. (1600) III. 111 The Master..was afrayd his men would shape some contrary course while he was asleepe, and so he should lose vs. a 1592 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 349 This is our life while we enjoy it, we lose it like the Sunne which flies swifter than an arrow, and yet no man perceives that it moves. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 3 If wee should chance at any time to loose each other, vpon sight againe [etc.]. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 11 Wee once more got sight of the Carracke, and lost her for euer, in two houres after. 1640 Shirley Constant Maid iv. F 2 b, I cannot see i' th' darke with spectacles, And mine owne eyes ha' lost him o' the suddaine. 1725 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 173, I thought, upon infinity, he was running into Sir Isaac Newton's notion of infinite space being the divine sensorium,..but, indeed, many times I lost him. 1833 Tennyson Dream Fair Women 245 Losing her carol I stood pensively. |
c. To draw away from, be no longer near or among; to leave hopelessly behind in a race.
| 1704 Pope Autumn 60 Here where the mountains less'ning as they rise Lose the low vales, and steal into the skies. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. v. 180 We did not lose them [flying⁓fish] on the coast of Brazil, till we approached the southern tropic. 1886 Sir F. Doyle Remin. 63 Where his great stride and iron legs would have enabled him, in the language of the turf, to lose his antagonist. |
† d. To fail to retain in the mind or memory; to forget. Also said of the mind or memory. to lose it that..: to forget that. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 556/1, I forget, I have loste a thynge out of remembraunce. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 114 Being ouer⁓full of selfe-affaires, My minde did lose it. 1592 ― Ven. & Ad. 408 The lesson is but plaine, And once made perfect, neuer lost againe. 1612 Dekker If it be not good Wks. 1873 III. 299 My memorie had quite lost you. 1613 Shakes., etc. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 57 Heare what I say, and then goe home and lose me. 16.. Milton Ps. lxxxiii. 16 That Israels name for ever may Be lost in memory. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. v. i, Here let Remembrance lose our past Misfortunes. 1712 S. Sewall Diary 11 Apr., Had quite lost it that the Meeting was at Mr. Stoddard's. [1870 M. Arnold St. Paul & Protestantism (1900) 148 Who can ever lose out of his memory the roll and march of those magnificent words of prophecy?] |
e. To cease to follow (the right track); also, to cease to find (traces of a person, etc.). Chiefly in to lose one's way (lit. and fig.). † Of a river: To diverge from (its channel).
| 1530 Palsgr. 771/1, I wander, as one dothe that hath loste his waye. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. viii. 20 They had willingly lost their course. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. ii. 94 Nor is it a thing extraordinary for riuers to lose their channels. 1709 Prior Chloe Hunting 3 She lost her way, And thro' the Woods uncertain chanc'd to stray. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 373 Pepys and his wife, travelling in their own coach, lost their way between Newbury and Reading. 1893 Fam. Herald 132/1 After she had walked a little farther, she lost trail altogether. |
† f. To allow to escape from one's power or influence. Obs.
| a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 378 Instead of prevailing on the Prince, he lost him so entirely, that all his endeavours afterwards could never beget any confidence in him. |
g. To let slip one's knowledge of (a language).
| 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 16 Mar., I am in great danger of losing my English. |
6. a. To spend unprofitably or in vain; to waste, get no return or result for (one's labour or efforts); to let slip (opportunities) without using them to good purpose; to waste (time).
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvi. 20 Suffre that thou suffirs for god and of god, for wa is þaim þat losis suffrynge. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1700 (1749) Lest tyme I loste, I dar not with yow dele. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5153 Fully on me she lost hir lore. c 1450 Merlin 6 And so shold ye loose youre tyme. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. xvi. 754 She is not the fyrst that hath loste her payn vpon yow. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxvi. 13 The leill labour lost, and leill seruice. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 26 Now to loose no more time about this point, I saie vnto you, y{supt} [etc.]. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 24 But, when she saw her prayers nought prevaile Shee backe retourned with some labour lost. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 12 All your labour past and to come about an Orchard is lost vnlesse you fence well. 1632 Sanderson Twelve Serm. 233 True zeale..will not loose the opportunity of doing what it ought, for waiting till others beginne. 1634 Milton Comus 271 Ill is lost that praise That is addrest to unattending Ears. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 127 Fall to, you know Half an Hour is soon lost at Dinner. 1770 Foote Lame Lover ii. Wks. 1799 II. 80 The constables will be here in a trice, so you have not a moment to lose. 1819 Crabbe T. of Hall ix, How much she grieved to lose the given day In dissipation wild, in visitation gay. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, There is no time to be lost. 1896 G. Boothby In Strange Comp. ii. vi. 55/1 A..fellow who never lost a chance of making himself objectionable. |
b. to be lost on or upon: to have no effect upon, to fail to influence.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 190 On whom my paines Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost. [1692 Burnet Past. Care ix. 111 Niceties of Style are lost before a common Auditory.] 1697 Dryden æneid xi. 1059 Thir Stratagems, and Tricks of little Hearts Are lost on me. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm xi. 131 Your kindness is not lost upon me. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby i. iii. I. 32 Nothing, however, was ever lost upon Lord Monmouth. No one had a more retentive memory, or a more observant mind. 1900 J. A. H. Murray Evolution Eng. Lexicogr. 6 The real humour of the situation..was..lost upon the House of Commons. |
7. a. To fail to obtain (something one might have had): occas. const. to. Also, to fail to catch (a train, etc.). † to lose aim: to miss one's mark.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 185 He schal lese [MS. γ luse] hevene þat wil hem take awey. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 153 Adam for Pride loste his pris. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 363 Wheder I lose or I wyn In fayth, thi felowship. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 141 b, Meanyng not to lose so great a prey. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 78 Our doubts are traitors And makes vs loose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 71 Shall I do that which all the Parthian Darts, (Though Enemy) lost ayme, and could not. 1611 Bible Matt. x. 42 Hee shall in no wise lose his reward. 1632 Massinger Maid of Honour v. i. (1632) K 2, Cam...If you forsweare your selfes wee shall not prosper. I'll rather lose my longing. 1650 Baxter Saint's R. iv. (1656) 132 Where God loses his praise, man will certainly lose his comforts. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 12 May, Mr. Secretary..brought me to our town's end in his coach: so I lost my walk. 1775 Harris Philos. Arrangem. Wks. (1841) 339 The swift-footed Salius lost the prize to young Euryalus. 1830 J. Jekyll Corr. (1894) 256 Rather than lose her legacy, she hung him on to the window bar. 1884 Congregationalist June 493, I once nearly lost a train on account of it. 1900 F. Anstey Brass Bottle ii. 22 ‘A guinea. For the last time. You'll lose it, sir’, said the auctioneer to the little man. |
b. To fail to apprehend by sight or hearing; not to ‘catch’ (words, points of a discourse).
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 32 Then go we neare her that her eare loose nothing. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. vii. 97 Being too farre off from any thing, wee loose the sight, and too neere likewise, we cannot see it. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 599 Fearing each to lose Some note of Nature's music from his lips. Mod. I did not lose a word of his speech. |
† c. To fail to attend; to ‘miss’. Obs.
Also formerly at Cambridge University, to lose one's week: not to be allowed to count towards the obligatory number of weeks of residence a week in which the required number of chapels had not been kept.
| 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 4 Aug., I lost church to-day. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 161 They lost their weeks; they vext the souls of deans. |
d. Hunting. To fail to catch (an animal).
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 68 b, I had rather (as they say lose the Hare) then to take such infinite paines as to hunt so farre for hir. 1883 Ld. Saltoun Scraps I. 104 The grey⁓hounds took up the chase, and either killed or lost her. |
8. a. To be deprived of (something) in a contest or game; to forfeit (a stake); hence, to be defeated in (a game, battle, lawsuit); to fail to carry (a motion). Also in Cricket: To have (a wicket) taken by an opponent. Const. to.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon liii. 180 She lost y⊇ game wherof Huon was ioyfull. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 210 Foughte a battell in Piedmont, with the Frenchemen..and lost the felde. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 538 While we reason here, A Royall battell might be wonne and lost. 1607 ― Cor. i. vii. 4 If we loose the Field, We cannot keepe the Towne. 1671 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 22 Wee play sometimes at trante a courante where my old ill lucke follows mee to loose my money. 1710 Act 9 Anne, c. 19 §2 Any Person or Persons..who shall at any Time or sitting by playing at Cards..lose to any One or more..Persons..the Sum..of Ten Pounds. 1799 H. K. White Let. to bro. Neville, The Corporation versus Gee, which we..lost. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish iv, The motion was lost by a majority of two. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 171, I lost my wicket to the first ball. 1847 Tennyson Princess vi. 9 When our side was vanquish'd and my cause For ever lost. 1872 Punch 27 Jan. 41/2 We never lost a game to a professional at billiards without hearing him assign his triumph chiefly to his flukes. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/1 The Southerners had scored 78 without losing a wicket. |
b. absol. To be defeated; also, to forfeit money by defeat in a game.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 116 Accordyng to the chaance of war, the one part gat, and the other lost. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 730 A captiue victor that hath lost in gaine. 1605 ― Lear v. iii. 15 Who looses, and who wins; who's in, who's out. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 21 Their game was Primera..; my mother, shee got the money, for my father was willing to lose to her. 1669 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 11, I heere your horse hath lost. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 198 She lost at one Sitting to the Tune of a hundred Guineas. 1822 Shelley Calderon's Magico Prodig. i. 151 The battle's loss may profit those who lose. 1885 O. W. Holmes, jr. in Law Q. Rev. Apr. 172 Tacitus says that the Germans would gamble their personal liberty and pay with their persons if they lost. |
9. Causal senses. a. To cause the loss of: often const. dat. of the person suffering loss.
| 1428 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 295 Whatt ever man..bringe warre upon the citie whereby they bene prayed and losid thair goods. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 187 Pride, Haughtinesse [etc.],..The least of which, haunting a Nobleman, Loseth mens hearts. 1602 ― Ham. i. iii. 76. 1605 ― Lear i. i. 125. a 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster iv. iv, I pray that this action loose not Philaster the hearts of the people. 1640–1 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 76 If they [shoes] come not with expedition the want of thame will lose all our sogers. 1699 Wotton Let. in Bentley Phal. Pref. 12, I did not think that a sufficient reason, why I should lose that Treatise to the World. 1763 Hoyle Whist 25 Do not overtrump him, which may probably lose you two or three Tricks. 1803 J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 8 A loss of the commission would lose the office. 1871 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. vii. 195 The crimes of John lost him all the northern part of his French possessions. |
b. To cause (a person) to ‘lose his way’; to bewilder. Esp. in phr. you('ve) lost me = ‘I failed to follow what you were saying’.
| 1648 Eikon Bas. xvi. 157 Nor are constant Formes of Prayers more likely to flat, and hinder the Spirit of prayer,..then un-premeditated and confused uariety to distract, and lose it. 1692 S. Patrick Answ. Touchstone 15 He only endeavours to lose his Reader in a mist of Words. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File vii. 42 ‘They have money..to investigate what they call {oqq}synthesised environment{cqq}.’ I said, ‘You've lost me now—without trying.’ 1967 H. Van Siller Biltmore Call 103 Frazer..looked up, frowning. ‘You've lost me. What do you mean, exactly?’ 1970 R. Lewis Wolf by Ears i. 11 You will have to be a little more explicit in your statements. I'm a bit lost. Ibid. 17 ‘You've lost me.’ ‘Put simply, it's this way.’ 1973 Observatory Oct. 162 You lost me at one stage. |
† c. ? To cause to be forgotten. Obs.
| 1667 Dryden Tempest iv. iv, Have fifteen years so lost me to your knowledge, That you retain no memory of Prospero? 1724 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 130 It requires a much better memory than mine to resume such long work, and one harangue loses the former to me. |
† d. To reject (a bill in parliament). Obs.
| 1663 Pepys Diary 26 July, A Bill for the Lord's day, which it seems the Lords have lost, and so cannot be passed. |
10. refl. (with corresponding pass.). a. To lose one's way, go astray. Also fig.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxviii[i]. 176, I go astraye as a shepe that is lost. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. iv. iv. (1602) 390 The hearer would be many times lost, before I shoulde come to the end. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 14 But to what end goe I to loose my selfe in the intricate labirinth of the abuses & disorders of our time. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 174 Like one lost in a Thornie Wood. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. xxi. 69 They must of necessitie loose themselves, having no knowledge where they were. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §9, I love to lose my selfe in a mystery. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 561 In wandring mazes lost. 1780 J. Harris Philol. Enq. Wks. (1841) 484 Arabian poetry is so immense a field, that he who enters it is in danger of being lost. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 225 O'er these waste downs whereon I lost myself. |
b. To lose one's (or its) identity; to become merged (in something else). lit. and fig.
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. vi. 93 Ten great rivers which loose themselves entring into that Lake. 1781 J. Moore View Soc. It. (1790) I. xli. 445 The Via Sacra was a street leading to the Forum, and lost in it. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. vii. (1813) 195 All surprise was shortly lost in other feelings. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Detached Th. on Bks. & Read., I love to lose myself in other men's minds. 1871–4 Hort The Way, etc. ii. (1894) 62 By the Resurrection and Ascension His Apostleship had been visibly lost in His Sonship. |
c. To become deeply absorbed or engrossed (in thought, etc.); to be bewildered, overwhelmed (in wonder); † to be distracted, lose one's wits (from emotion or excitement).
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. v. 339 They were lost in their own imaginations and conceipts. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 71 Be not lost So poorely in your thoughts. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 121 These strong Egyptian Fetters I must breake, Or loose my selfe in dotage. 1626 Shirley Maid's Rev. iv. i. (1639) G 2 b, I almost lose my selfe In joy to meete him. 1728 Addison Hymn, ‘When all thy mercies’, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love, and praise. 1798 Landor Gebir i. 97, I neither feed the flock nor watch the fold; How can I, lost in love? 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. iii. i. (1820) 153 As I pace the darkened chamber and lose myself in melancholy musings. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 231 He seemed to be lost in the contemplation of something great. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman iii. vi, Her voice was low at first, but she soon lost herself, and then it rose above the other voices. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 239 For a time they become lost and dazed. |
d. To become hidden from view, obscured (in clouds, etc.).
| 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 79 When the setting Stars are lost in Day. 1725 Pope Odyss. vii. 354 Woody mountains half in vapours lost. 1784 Cowper Task i. 194 Rills that..lose themselves at length In matted grass. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 11 A vast ocean of tillage..losing itself in the vapour of the distant horizon. 1847 Tennyson Princess i. 227 A pillar'd porch, the bases lost In laurel. |
† e. Of water: To leak away. Obs.
| 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 189 The Vials..are joined to the Pipes with Wax or Mastick, so that the Water rises into the Vials, without losing itself any where. Ibid. 194 Gravel, or Sand-Stone, upon which the Water will run without losing itself. |
11. Comb., with sense ‘one who or something which loses{ddd}’, as † lose-all, † lose-office; so † lose-time a., time-wasting.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne i. xxv. (1632) 78 Jugling tricks, or other idle lose-time sports. 1623 Penkethman Handf. Hon. iv. xlii, More loue to purchase, each good turne requite, Lest a Loose-office thou be termed right. 1650 W. Brough Sacr. Princ. (1659) 220 The third [heir] is commonly a lose-all. |
Add: [3.] k. To shed (weight, fatty tissue, etc.). Cf. to lose weight s.v. weight n.1 8 c.
| 1890 Lancet 27 Sept. 663/2 The patient will rapidly lose flesh. 1941 G. Kersh They die with their Boots Clean ii. 85 The first weeks or two cracks up quite a few rookies... This here Spencer drops weight... Millions of stones that rook lost. 1956 J. Barth Floating Opera xiv. 139, I had lost twenty pounds, countless prejudices, much provincialism, my chastity.., and my religion. 1976 W. Breckon You are what you Eat viii. 138 The object of slimming is to lose fat..to have a greater output of energy than input from food. 1992 N.Y. Times 31 May 37/1 Janet says she has lost about 10 pounds while mooning and pining over the man of her dreams. |
[9.] e. To dispose of, eliminate, or remove (something perceived as inconvenient or unwanted); occas., to kill. colloq.
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang § 27/5 Eliminate; discard; get rid of. Axe, basket,..lose, mop up, [etc.]. 1951 P. H. Abrahams Wild Conquest II. i. i. 173 Another naked easterner... Lose him, my brave Rauwe! My brave soldiers! 1970 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) I. xxiii. 314 Whoever heard of a lion in the Antarctic. Right. Lose the lion. 1984 J. Partridge One Touch Photogr. 31 An untidy background can detract from your picture and a good rule is to ‘use it or lose it’. 1987 Which? June 278/2 We're not convinced that losing the flex is much of an advantage—especially as the model we looked at couldn't do things like liquidise soup in a saucepan. |
▸ colloq.to lose it: to lose control of one's temper or emotions, esp. to become incapably angry or agitated; to cease to be rational or effective; cf. sense 3d.
J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 469 records an oral use from 1974 by a student at the University of Tennessee.
| 1976 Milton Keynes Express 11 June 42/6 Eric Cook..completely lost it coming into Woodcote slamming into the sleepers with a rather surprised look of disbelief on his face. 1983 Washington Post (Nexis) 29 May d1 His eruptions at umpires..are genuine furies. ‘When something goes against his grain..he just completely loses it.’ 1989 R. Graef Talking Blues siv. 464 Our Superintendent Ops is good. He's keen. He's still got his feet on the ground. He hasn't lost it. 1995 Mixmag May 67/3 One New Year's Eve Ricky loses it completely and has to be taken home before midnight. 2001 FourFourTwo Sept. 113/2 At the other end of the ground..there are knife fights breaking out and one barra completely loses it with a concrete paving slab when it refuses to break under the pressure of him stamping on it. |
▸ fig. (colloq.). to lose the plot: to lose one's ability to understand or cope with events; to lose one's touch; to go off the rails. Sometimes also: = to lose it at Additions.
| [1653 R. Brome Damoiselle iii. i, As an ingenious Critick would observe The first Scene of a Cemedy, for feare He lose the Plot.] 1984 Times 16 Oct. 15/4 Arabella Pollen showed sharp linens, lost the plot in a sarong skirt and brought out curvaceous racing silk and a show-stopping bow-legged Willie Carson. 1987 Playboy (Nexis) Mar. 82/3 Singo is still going strong on 2KY, defending the larrikin way of life. But he's lost the plot—there's nobody out there in navy-blue singlets anymore. 1991 New Musical Express 16 Mar. 47 Even Guns N' Roses, who found success representing free spirit within the genre, seem to have lost the plot with this fatuous triple second album idea. 2002 Glamour July 37/1 On holiday in Spain I lost the plot because I thought my boyfriend was looking at a girl in the distance. I pushed him into a swimming pool. |
▪ IV. † lose, v.2 Obs.
Also 4 loose, 5 lowse.
[f. lose n.1, or perh. aphetic f. alose v.]
trans. To praise. Also absol.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 411 Þow with rude speche Lakkedest, and losedest þinge þat longed nouȝt to be done. 1388 Wyclif 1 Esdras iv. 12 What maner wise passith not the kyng bifore oothere, that thus is loosid? a 1400–50 Alexander 1960 (Dublin MS.) Of all Lordes Lord lowsed þorow þe werld. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. cii. (1869) 112, I am þilke þat of olde am cleped and losed [v.r. alosed] þe eldeste. |
Hence † losed ppl. a., praised, renowned. Also used as n., one praised.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. 245 in E.E.P. (1862) 77 So noble a losed þer nas non in al þe vniuersite. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 160 The good kynge Dauy..the loset of force and of vertue. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. i. 7 A losyd lorde was he. |
▪ V. lose
obs. form of loose, loss.