Inflected forms: loos·er, loos·est 1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.2. Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.3. Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.4. Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.5. Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.6. Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.7. Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.8. Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.9. Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior. 10. Not literal or exact: a loose translation.11. Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.
ADVERB:
In a loose manner.
VERB:
Inflected forms: loosed, loos·ing, loos·es
TRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.6. To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To become loose. 2. To discharge a missile; fire.
IDIOM:
on the loose1. At large; free. 2. Acting in an uninhibited fashion.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English louse, los, from Old Norse lauss. See leu- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:
loosely —ADVERB looseness —NOUN
SYNONYMS:
loose, lax, slack1 These adjectives mean not tautly bound, held, or fastened: loose reins; a lax rope; slack sails.
l
s
ly —ADVERB
