lose

verb

ˈlüz

lost ˈlȯst

; losing ˈlü-ziŋ

; loses

Synonyms of lose next

transitive verb

: to bring to destruction

—used chiefly in passive construction

the ship was lost on the reef

: damn

… if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?—

Matthew 16:26 (King James Version)

: to miss from one's possession or from a customary or supposed place

lost his glove

: to suffer deprivation of : part with especially in an unforeseen or accidental manner

lost his leg in an auto accident

: to suffer loss through the death or removal of or final separation from (a person)

lost a son in the war

: to fail to keep control of or allegiance (see allegiance sense 2) of

lose votes

lost his temper

: to fail to use : let slip by : waste

no time to lose

b(1)

: to fail to win, gain, or obtain

lose a prize

lose a contest

(2)

: to undergo defeat in

lost every battle

: to fail to catch with the senses or the mind

lost what she said

: to cause the loss of

: to fail to keep, sustain, or maintain

lost my balance

: to cause to miss one's way or bearings

lost himself in the maze of streets

: to make (oneself) withdrawn from immediate reality

lost herself in daydreaming

: to wander or go astray from

lost his way

: to draw away from : outstrip

lost his pursuers

: to fail to keep in sight or in mind

lost the thief in the crowded street

: to free oneself from : get rid of

dieting to lose weight

slang : regurgitate, vomit

—often used in such phrases as lose one's lunch

intransitive verb

: to undergo deprivation of something of value

investors lost heavily

: to undergo defeat

lose with good grace

of a timepiece : to run slow

losable

ˈlü-zə-bəl

adjective

losableness noun

Phrases

lose ground

: to suffer loss or disadvantage : fail to advance or improve

lose it

: to fail to maintain a hold on reality

also : to become mentally unsound

: to become overwhelmed with strong emotion : to lose one's composure

so angry I almost lost it

lose one's heart

: to fall in love

Example Sentences

She's always losing her gloves. Hold my hand: I don't want to lose you. We lost the game by a score of 4–2. He lost his title in the rematch. The team lost three games but won the next four. The team lost in the finals. an athlete known for losing with grace He hates to lose when money is involved. How could she play that well and still lose? The country lost its independence 50 years ago. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Las Vegas has lost just one game this season while New York has dropped three contests. —

Doug Feinberg, ajc, 28 June 2023 Roughly a third of food is lost during harvest, storage and transportation or is wasted by consumers. —

Deepa Padmanaban, Scientific American, 28 June 2023 But [DSPs] could lose another zero and move that digit closer to the decimal point. —

Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 28 June 2023 No matter if an athlete could barely afford food: Any student who accepted money from a business or booster could lose eligibility – which is exactly what happened to college stars such as Jeremy Bloom. —

Jabari M. Evans, Fortune, 28 June 2023 The Breeders unearthed a track from 1993 that was thought to have been lost. —

Spin Staff, SPIN, 28 June 2023 International help eventually returned, including through UNICEF, but lost salaries were never paid. —

Rick Noack, Washington Post, 28 June 2023 In their first conference game, at Texas-El Paso, the Aztecs allowed a last-minute touchdown after a special teams mistake and lost 31-24. —

Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 June 2023 For his troubles, he was tortured and disfigured by regime security services, losing a kidney. —

Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English losian to perish, lose, from los destruction; akin to Old English lēosan to lose; akin to Old Norse losa to loosen, Latin luere to atone for, Greek lyein to loosen, dissolve, destroy

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler

The first known use of lose was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century