From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishloselose /luːz/ ●●● S1 W1 verb (past tense and past participle lost /lɒst $ lɒːst/) 1 stop having attitude/quality etc [transitive] to stop having a particular attitude, quality, ability etc, or to gradually have less of it → loss I’ve lost my appetite.lose confidence/interest/hope etc The business community has lost confidence in the government. Carol lost interest in ballet in her teens. Try not to lose heart (=become sad and hopeless) – there are plenty of other jobs.lose face (=stop having as much respect from other people) A settlement was reached in which neither side lost face.lose weight/height/speed etc You’re looking slim. Have you lost weight? The plane emptied its fuel tanks as it started losing altitude.lose your sight/hearing/voice/balance etc Mr Eyer may lose the sight in one eye. The tour was postponed when the lead singer lost his voice. Julian lost his balance and fell.lose your touch (=become less skilled at doing something you used to do well) This latest movie proves Altman is by no means losing his touch. By the time the ambulance arrived, Douglas had lost consciousness.lose all sense of time/direction/proportion etc When he was writing, he lost all sense of time.lose sight of something (=forget an important fact about a situation) We must never lose sight of the fact that man must work in harmony with nature.2 not win [intransitive, transitive]LOSE A GAME, COMPETITION, OR WAR to not win a game, argument, election, war etc OPP win → defeat They played so badly they deserved to lose. Klinger lost his seat in the election. Arkansas just lost three games in a row. He just can’t bear to lose an argument.lose to The Beavers have dropped only one game since losing to Oregon in January.lose (something) by 1 goal/10 votes/20 points etc The government lost by one vote. The Communist candidate lost by a whisker (=a very small amount). Freddie died in 1982 after losing his battle against AIDS.lose somebody something It was a rash decision, and it lost him the race (=caused him to lose the race).3 cannot find something [transitive]LOSE/CAN'T FIND to become unable to find someone or something I’ve lost the tickets for tonight’s show. I followed her on foot, but lost her in the crowd. It was thought the manuscript had been lost forever.be/get lost in the post British English, be/get lost in the mail American English The parcel must have got lost in the post.lose track of something/somebody (=stop knowing where someone or something is) He lost track of her after her family moved away.lose sight of something/somebody (=stop being able to see someone or something) Don’t try to walk in a heavy snowstorm as you may lose sight of your vehicle. → lost property4 stop having something [transitive]LOSE/NOT HAVE ANYMORE if you lose something that is important or necessary, you then no longer have it, especially because it has been taken from you or destroyed → loss David’s very upset about losing his job. Hundreds of people lost their homes in the floods. My family lost everything in the war. He was over the limit and will lose his licence. Ninety naval aircraft were lost and thirty damaged.lose a chance/opportunity If you hesitate, you may lose the opportunity to compete altogether.lose something to somebody/something We were losing customers to cheaper rivals. She was about to lose her husband to a younger woman. California has lost 90% of its wetlands to development.lose an arm/leg/eye etc He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. He’s lost a lot of blood but his life is not in danger.lose somebody something the mistakes which lost him his kingdom (=caused him to lose his kingdom)5 death [transitive]DIE a) lose your life to die a memorial to honor those who lost their lives in the war b) if you lose a relative or friend, they die – use this when you want to avoid saying the word ‘die’ → loss One woman in Brooklyn lost a husband and two sons in the gang wars. Sadly, Anna lost the baby (=her baby died before it was born).lose somebody to cancer/AIDS etc He lost his father to cancer (=his father died of cancer) last year. Peter was lost at sea when his ship sank.6 money [intransitive, transitive] if you lose money, you then have less money than you had before → losslose on The company is in debt after losing an estimated $30 million on its dotcom enterprise. Creditors and investors stand to lose (=risk losing) vast sums after the company’s collapse. A lot of people lost their shirts (=lost a lot of money) on Ferraris in the eighties. It’s a great deal – we can’t lose!lose somebody something The stock market crash lost the banks £70 million (=caused them to lose £70 million). 7 → have nothing to lose8 time [transitive] a) if you lose time, you do not make progress as quickly as you want to or shouldlose time/2 days/3 hours etc Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive. In 1978,29 million days were lost in industrial action. Come on, there’s no time to lose (=do not waste time).lose no time in doing something (=do something immediately) Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention. b) if a watch, clock etc loses time, it runs too slowly and shows an earlier time than it should OPP gain9 → lose your way/bearings10 → lose touch (with somebody/something)11 → lose your temper/cool/rag12 → lose your head13 → lose your mind14 → lose it15 → lose yourself in something16 escape [transitive] if you lose someone who is chasing you, you manage to escape from them There’s a better chance of losing him if we take the back route.17 confuse somebody [transitive] spoken informal to confuse someone when you are trying to explain something to them Explain it again – you’ve lost me already.18 remove something [transitive] to remove a part or feature of something that is not necessary or wanted You could lose the last paragraph to make it fit on one page.19 → lose something in the translation/telling → lost2, → lose count at count2(3), → lose sleep over something at sleep2(4) → lose out→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
lose• I need to lose 10 pounds before the wedding.• NRT Corporation lost $2.2 million in the most recent quarter on sales of $6.3 million.• I'm not playing tennis with her any more - I always lose.• In most Western democracies in the twentieth century, legislatures have lost a great deal of ground to executive branches.• Michelle lost her job again.• Sharon lost her mother when she was very young.• Professor Wilkes lost his sight in an accident three years ago.• He lost his title unexpectedly to a man who is virtually unknown outside boxing circles.• "What are you looking for?" "My purse. I think I might have lost it."• Neil put the certificate in a drawer so he wouldn't lose it.• I was a step away from triumph and did not want to lose it.• Josefina and I were plumb about to lose it.• I'll lose my job if the factory closes.• They have lost no time in sounding the alarm about an impending famine, which they say threatens 1.9m people.• Investors lost several million dollars on the project.• It's a terrible thing to lose someone very close to you.• Last week was the first time Hastert had lost such a procedural vote.• Noel lost the argument.• Everyone expected the Democrats to lose the election.• Many people think that the Democrats' tax policies lost them the election.• England lost to Brazil in the final.• I always lose when I play tennis with my sister.• Oh there you are - I thought I'd lost you.• Sorry, you lost your chance.• If you lose your credit card, phone this number immediately.lose confidence/interest/hope etc• We've lost hope..• So much for women losing interest after midlife!• In Queretaro it seems it also lost interest in doing so.• Leonora lost interest in her breakfast.• I've lost interest in it, I said.• It seemed that he had lost interest in politics.• Without recognition, people lose interest in success.• This is a problem because fathers who do not live with their children lose interest in them.losing ... battle• Against concerted action by local authorities the individual librarian would be fighting a very hard and probably losing battle.• But more worrying is that Ragu is losing his present battle.• But they were losing the battle.• Although already gravely ill, she posed for this graduation picture just days before losing her battle against cancer.• He tried hard to do this, but he was fighting a losing battle here against the rising tide of papal authority.• However, whilst such a provision can prevent the business losing the battle of forms, it can not guarantee victory.• Nor can we underestimate the consequences of losing the battle to poor eating and exercise habits.lost forever• But that Spring Hill may be lost for ever, some residents say.• Energy expressed in a passive way is lost for ever.• In the process, many irrecoverable secrets of nature are being lost for ever.• Many of these will be lost for ever, before they have even been named.• Much water has been lost for ever from Mars, blasted into space by comet and asteroid impacts.• Some would never appear, vaporized, lost for ever, having ceased to exist.• They could be lost for ever by a single failure of vigilance.• Wildlife lost for ever Many rainforest species can not live anywhere else.losing ... job• She knew her brother hated losing his job.• Ten percent of us every year are going to be losing our jobs.• Then he implied that Lynne Donato had been talking to him about me losing my job.• They fear not making the new higher performance standard and losing their jobs.• Was it fear of losing her job?• Placido Domingo will release an album that deals solely with the topics of losing your job and your girl.• Many have awful stories to tell about being bullied at school, losing jobs, broken relationships.• It could turn out eventually that losing your job has led to a whole new and better career.stand to lose• After all, what more could she possibly stand to lose?• What does the publisher or author stand to lose?• Hence a director of a company may stand to lose financially even though the company has limited liability.• Unfortunately, as already described, Croydon Corporation saw things rather differently and thought they would stand to lose financially.• Assuming that Short had been playing it straight, then there remained the question of who stood to lose if Pendero won.• But if prices decline, you stand to lose more as well.• After all, she was the one who stood to lose most.• Creditors and investors stood to lose vast sums.lose no time in doing something• After the war, physicians lost no time in prescribing it to dieters.• And true to form Graham Sale lost no time in capitalising on an opportunity presenting Douglas Hurd with his own clock.• General Grant... lost no time in pushing to the front...• He has three young daughters of his own, and loses no time in stamping his authority on the entire brood.• John the Baptist urges us to lose no time in making a straight way for the Lord.• Now with more land available, Porter lost no time in leaving his home at Canandaigua and moving to Niagara.• Telephone companies lost no time in announcing that they plan to aggressively expand.• They have lost no time in sounding the alarm about an impending famine, which they say threatens 1.9m people.From Longman Business Dictionaryloselose /luːz/ verb (past tense and past participle lost /lɒstlɒːst/, present participle losing) [transitive]1to stop having something any more, or to have less of itThe industry has lost 60,000 jobs.After a boardroom battle, Dixon lost control of the company.They lost business by not giving credit.lose something to somebodyWe started losing customers to cheaper rivals.The big national chains were losing market share to independent one-person operations.2to have less money than you had before or to spend more money than you are receivingWe all lost money when the firm collapsed.The group is estimated to have lost $36 million last year.lost revenueThe resulting crisis of confidence lost the bank (=caused the bank to lose) £30 million in deposits.3FINANCEto fall to a lower figure or priceIn Tokyo, the Nikkei stock index lost 644.82 to close at 17,791.55.Its shares lost 25p to 104p on the results.4lose ground to become less in value or to lose an advantageSterling lost ground against the euro.When the bid failed to appear, shares lost ground.5lose your shirt informal to lose a lot of moneyWhen the recession came, many companies lost their shirts. → lose out→ See Verb tableOrigin lose Old English losian “to destroy or be destroyed, to lose” 