Definition: loose
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
loose
adj 1: not restrained or confined or attached; "a pocket full of
loose bills"; "knocked the ball loose"; "got loose
from his attacker"
2: not compact or dense in structure or arrangement; "loose
gravel" [ant: compact]
3: (of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any
player; "a loose ball"
4: not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or
constricting; "loose clothing"; "the large shoes were very
loose" [ant: tight]
5: not officially recognized or controlled; "an informal
agreement"; "a loose organization of the local farmers"
[syn: informal]
6: not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been
told"; "a free translation of the poem" [syn: free, liberal]
7: emptying easily or excessively; "loose bowels" [syn: lax]
8: not affixed; "the stamp came loose" [syn: unaffixed] [ant:
affixed]
9: not tense or taut; "the old man's skin hung loose and gray";
"slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack rope"
[syn: slack]
10: (of textures) full of small openings or gaps; "an open
texture"; "a loose weave" [syn: open]
11: not fixed firmly or tightly; "the bolts became loose over
time"; "a loose chair leg"; "loose bricks"
12: lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk";
"a loose tongue" [syn: idle]
13: not carefully arranged in a package; "a box of loose nails"
14: freely producing mucus; "a loose phlegmy cough"
15: 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" [syn: at large, at liberty, escaped,
on the loose]
16: casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior; "her easy
virtue"; "he was told to avoid loose (or light) women";
"wanton behavior" [syn: easy, light, promiscuous, sluttish,
wanton]
17: not bound or fastened or gathered together; "loose pages";
"loose papers"
adv : without restraint; "cows in India are running loose" [syn: free]
v 1: grant freedom to; free from confinement [syn: free, liberate,
release, unloose] [ant: confine]
2: turn loose or free from restraint; "let loose mines"; "Loose
terrible plagues upon humanity" [syn: unleash, let
loose]
3: become less tight; "the rope relaxed" [syn: relax]
4: make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope" [syn: loosen]
[ant: stiffen]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Loose \Loose\, v. i. To set sail. [Obs.] --Acts xiii. 13.
Loose \Loose\, n. 1. Freedom from restraint. [Obs.] --Prior. 2. A letting go; discharge. --B. Jonson. To give a loose, to give freedom. Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow. --Addison.
Loose \Loose\, v. n. [imp. & p. p. Loosed; p. pr. & vb. n. Loosing.] [From Loose, a.] 1. 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 ? --Job. xxxviii. 31. Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me. --Matt. xxi. 2. 2. To release from anything obligatory or burdensome; to disengage; hence, to absolve; to remit. Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife. --1 Cor. vii. 27. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. --Matt. xvi. 19. 3. To relax; to loosen; to make less strict. The joints of his loins were loosed. --Dan. v. 6. 4. To solve; to interpret. [Obs.] --Spenser.
Loose \Loose\, a. [Compar. Looser; superl. Loosest.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s, Goth. laus, and E. lose. ? See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood.] 1. 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. --Shak. 2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; -- with from or of. Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? --Addison. 3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment. 4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. --Milton. 5. 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. --Whewel. 6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W. Scott. 7. Unconnected; rambling. Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. --I. Watts. 8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke. 9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. Loose ladies in delight. --Spenser. 10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. -- Dryden. At loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed. Fast and loose. See under Fast. To break loose. See under Break. Loose pulley. (Mach.) See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast. To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.
