Definition of "lose" in English

verb

1. (transitive) To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability.

   • If you lose that ten-pound note, you'll be sorry.
   • He lost his hearing in the explosion.
   • She lost her position when the company was taken over.
   • Douglas: I took some of the pension money out of the bank and I lost it on a horse. Nolan: Gambling with our employees' pensions? Douglas: Gambling? No. I was riding the horse. It fell out of my pocket.

2. (transitive) To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.

   • I lost my way in the forest.

3. (transitive) To become a defeated competitor in (a game, competition, trial, etc).

   • We lost the football match.
   • You just lost The Game.

4. (intransitive) To be defeated (in a game, competition, contest, etc.)

   • The team scored four goals but still managed to lose.

5. (transitive) To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer.

   • The policeman lost the robber he was chasing.
   • Mission control lost the satellite as its signal died down.

6. (transitive) To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.

   • lose the cops
   • We managed to lose our pursuers in the forest.

7. (transitive) To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion).

8. (transitive, informal) To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.

   • When we get into the building, please lose the hat.

9. (transitive) Of a clock, to run slower than expected.

   • My watch loses five minutes a week.
   • It's already 5:30? My watch must have lost a few minutes.

10. (ditransitive) To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.

    • a. 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, On the Excesses of Grief How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?

11. (transitive) To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.

    • I lost a part of what he said.

noun

1. Alternative form of loos (“praise; fame; reputation”).