Lose v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lost p. pr. & vb. n. Losing ]
1. To part with unintentionally or unwillingly, as by accident, misfortune, negligence, penalty, forfeit, etc.; to be deprived of; as, to lose money from one's purse or pocket, or in business or gaming; to lose an arm or a leg by amputation; to lose men in battle.
Fair Venus wept the sad disaster
Of having lost her favorite dove. --Prior.
2. To cease to have; to possess no longer; to suffer diminution of; as, to lose one's relish for anything; to lose one's health.
If the salt hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? --Matt. v. 13.
3. Not to employ; to employ ineffectually; to throw away; to waste; to squander; as, to lose a day; to lose the benefits of instruction.
The unhappy have but hours, and these they lose. --Dryden.
4. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to and; to go astray from; as, to lose one's way.
He hath lost his fellows. --Shak
5. To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on the ledge.
The woman that deliberates is lost. --Addison.
6. To be deprived of the view of; to cease to see or know the whereabouts of; as, he lost his companion in the crowd.
Like following life thro' creatures you dissect,
You lose it in the moment you detect. --Pope.
7. To fail to obtain or enjoy; to fail to gain or win; hence, to fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss; as, I lost a part of what he said.
He shall in no wise lose his reward. --Matt. x. 42.
I fought the battle bravely which I lost,
And lost it but to Macedonians. --Dryden.
8. To cause to part with; to deprive of. [R.]
How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion? --Sir W. Temple.
9. To prevent from gaining or obtaining.
O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory. --Baxter.
To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or disadvantage.
To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. “The mutineers lost heart.” --Macaulay.
To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment, through fear, anger, or other emotion.
In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars lost their heads. --Whitney.
-- To lose one's self. (a) To forget or mistake the bearing of surrounding objects; as, to lose one's self in a great city. (b) To have the perceptive and rational power temporarily suspended; as, we lose ourselves in sleep.
To lose sight of. (a) To cease to see; as, to lose sight of the land. (b) To overlook; to forget; to fail to perceive; as, he lost sight of the issue.
Lo·sing a. Given to flattery or deceit; flattering; cozening. [Obs.]
Amongst the many simoniacal that swarmed in the land, Herbert, Bishop of Thetford, must not be forgotten; nick-named Losing, that is, the Flatterer. --Fuller.
Los·ing a. Causing or likely to cause a loss; as, a losing game or business; a losing strategy.
Who strive to sit out losing hands are lost. --Herbert.
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