Loose vs. Lose: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 30, 2024
"Loose" refers to something not tightly fixed or contained; "Lose" means to be deprived of or cease to have something.
Key Differences
"Loose" is commonly used to describe something that is not securely attached or is free from constraint, such as a loose button on a shirt. In contrast, "Lose" is a verb that signifies the action of misplacing something or failing to win, like when you lose your keys or lose a game.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
The word "Loose" can also imply a lack of strictness or precision, as in a loose interpretation of rules. On the other hand, "Lose" often conveys the concept of being deprived of something, whether it's losing a friend or losing one's patience.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
In terms of pronunciation, "Loose" has a soft 's' sound, akin to the word 'goose'. In contrast, "Lose" features a more pronounced 'z' sound, as in 'choose'. This distinction is crucial in understanding and using these words correctly.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
"Loose" can function as an adjective, as in loose clothing, meaning not fitting tightly. "Lose" is always a verb, indicating an action, such as to lose weight or lose interest in a hobby.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
When dealing with grammar, "Loose" is sometimes used as a verb meaning to release or set free, though this usage is less common. "Lose" has no alternative grammatical function and is strictly used as a verb related to loss or failure.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Meaning
Not tightly fixed; free from constraint
To misplace or be deprived of something
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Pronunciation
Soft 's' sound, as in 'goose'
Pronounced 'z' sound, as in 'choose'
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Common Confusions
Often confused with 'lose' due to sound
Often misspelled as 'loose'
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
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Loose and Lose Definitions
Loose
Free from restraint or confinement.
The dog broke loose from its leash and ran into the park.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Lose
To cease to have or retain something.
He began to lose interest in the project.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Lose
To suffer the loss of a person through death or separation.
She feared she would lose her grandfather soon.
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Jan 08, 2024
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Lose
To decrease in (body weight).
He managed to lose ten pounds last month.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Lose
To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay
He's always losing his car keys.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered
Criminals loose in the neighborhood.
Dogs that are loose on the streets.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To be deprived of (something one has had)
Lost her art collection in the fire.
Lost her job.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To be unable to keep control or allegiance of
Lost his temper at the meeting.
Is losing supporters by changing his mind.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To fail to use or take advantage of
Don't lose a chance to improve your position.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To fail to hear, see, or understand
We lost the plane in the fog. I lost her when she started speaking about thermodynamics.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body
A loose cough.
Loose bowels.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
To release pressure or obligation from; absolve
Loosed her from the responsibility.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
To make less strict; relax
A leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To cause or result in the loss of
Failure to reply to the advertisement lost her the job.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To cause to be destroyed. Usually used in the passive
Both planes were lost in the crash.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To cause (something) to cease to be in one's possession or capability due to unfortunate or unknown circumstances, events or reasons.
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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.
Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy.
He lost his spleen in a car wreck.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not fixed in place tightly or firmly.
This wheelbarrow has a loose wheel.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend).
She lost all her sons in the war.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To be deprived of access to something.
Users who engage in disruptive behavior may lose their accounts.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
I lost my way in the forest.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To fail to win (a game, competition, trial, etc).
We lost the football match.
You just lost The Game.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.
We managed to lose our pursuers in the forest.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(transitive) To cease exhibiting; to overcome (a behavior or emotion).
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not being in the possession of any competing team during a game.
He caught an elbow going after a loose ball.
The puck was momentarily loose right in front of the net.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.
When we get into the building, please lose the hat.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
(of volumes of materials) Measured loosely stacked or disorganized (such as of firewood).
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
(ditransitive) To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
I lost a part of what he said.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
(obsolete) A state of laxity or indulgence; unrestrained freedom, abandonment.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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 disasterOf having lost her favorite dove.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on the ledge.
The woman that deliberates is lost.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.
Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; - with from or of.
Now I standLoose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
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.
I fought the battle bravely which I lost,And lost it but to Macedonians.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To cause to part with; to deprive of.
How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture.
With horse and chariots ranked in loose array.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To prevent from gaining or obtaining.
O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory.
In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars lost their heads.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning.
The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To suffer loss, disadvantage, or defeat; to be worse off, esp. as the result of any kind of contest.
We 'll . . . hear poor roguesTalk of court news; and we'll talk with them too,Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right.
The loose morality which he had learned.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense;
She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Unconnected; rambling.
Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Suffer the loss of a person through death or removal;
She lost her husband in the war
The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.
Loose ladies in delight.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Place (something) where one cannot find it again;
I misplaced my eyeglasses
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Miss from one's possessions; lose sight of;
I've lost my glasses again!
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Allow to go out of sight;
The detective lost the man he was shadowing after he had to stop at a red light
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
A letting go; discharge.
Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit;
I lost thousands of dollars on that bad investment!
The company turned a loss after the first year
The company has not profited from the merger
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
To untie or unbind; to free from any fastening; to remove the shackles or fastenings of; to set free; to relieve.
Canst thou . . . loose the bands of Orion ?
Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
To release from anything obligatory or burdensome; to disengage; hence, to absolve; to remit.
Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife.
Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
To relax; to loosen; to make less strict.
The joints of his loins were loosed.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
Fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind;
I missed that remark
She missed his point
We lost part of what he said
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Lose
To be unable to find something or someone.
I always seem to lose my keys.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Lose
To fail to win a game or contest.
The team was disappointed to lose the championship.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Loose
Turn loose or free from restraint;
Let loose mines
Loose terrible plagues upon humanity
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Become loose or looser or less tight;
The noose loosened
The rope relaxed
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not restrained or confined or attached;
A pocket full of loose bills
Knocked the ball loose
Got loose from his attacker
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
(of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any player;
A loose ball
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting;
Loose clothing
The large shoes were very loose
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not officially recognized or controlled;
An informal agreement
A loose organization of the local farmers
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not literal;
A loose interpretation of what she had been told
A free translation of the poem
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not tense or taut;
The old man's skin hung loose and gray
Slack and wrinkled skin
Slack sails
A slack rope
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
(of textures) full of small openings or gaps;
An open texture
A loose weave
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not fixed firmly or tightly;
The bolts became loose over time
A loose chair leg
Loose bricks
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility;
Idle talk
A loose tongue
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Having escaped, especially from confinement;
A convict still at large
Searching for two escaped prisoners
Dogs loose on the streets
Criminals on the loose in the neighborhood
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior;
Her easy virtue
He was told to avoid loose (or light) women
Wanton behavior
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Loose
Not firmly or tightly fixed in place.
The screws in the shelf were loose and needed tightening.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Loose
(Less common) To release or set free.
The hunters decided to loose the captured bird.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 08, 2024
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What does it mean to have a loose grip?
It means the grip is not tight or secure.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Is 'loose' an adjective or a verb?
Primarily an adjective, but can be a verb meaning to release.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
What's an example of 'lose' in terms of weight?
"He is trying to lose weight by exercising."
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Does 'lose' have a positive connotation?
Generally no, as it often relates to failure or deprivation.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Can 'loose' describe clothing?
Yes, it can describe clothing that is not tight-fitting.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Can 'loose' mean relaxed?
Yes, it can describe something that is relaxed or slack.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Is it common to confuse 'loose' and 'lose'?
Yes, due to their similar spelling and pronunciation.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Are there idioms using 'loose'?
Yes, like "on the loose" meaning freely roaming.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
What's the key to remembering 'loose' vs. 'lose'?
Remember 'loose' has two 'o's like in 'goose'.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Can 'lose' be used in a business context?
Yes, like losing profits or losing a client.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Can 'loose' be used in a formal context?
Yes, but its usage depends on the context.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
Is 'lose' easy to use in everyday language?
Yes, especially in contexts of misplacing items or failing.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 30, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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