5 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Loose \Loose\, v. i.
To set sail. [Obs.] --Acts xiii. 13.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
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(p)}, {at liberty(p)}, {escaped},
{on the loose(p)}]
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}, {unloosen}] [ant: {confine}]
2: turn loose or free from restraint; "let loose mines"; "Loose
terrible plagues upon humanity" [syn: {unleash}, {let
loose}]
3: make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope" [syn: {loosen}]
[ant: {stiffen}]
4: become loose or looser or less tight; "The noose loosened";
"the rope relaxed" [syn: {loosen}, {relax}] [ant: {stiffen}]