What is "to let loose"

Let \Let\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Let ( Letted (l[e^]t"t[e^]d), [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. Letting.] [OE. leten, l[ae]ten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l[=ae]tan (past tense l[=e]t, p. p. l[=ae]ten); akin to OFries. l[=e]ta, OS. l[=a]tan, D. laten, G. lassen, OHG. l[=a]zzan, Icel. l[=a]ta, Sw. l[*a]ta, Dan. lade, Goth. l[=e]tan, and L. lassus weary. The original meaning seems to have been, to let loose, let go, let drop. Cf. Alas, Late, Lassitude, Let to hinder.]

1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.]

   He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let.
   --Chaucer.

   Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets.
   --Spenser.

   Let me alone in choosing of my wife.
   --Chaucer.

2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

3. To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought.

   This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch.
   --Chaucer.

   He . . . thus let do slay hem all three.
   --Chaucer.

   Anon he let two coffers make.
   --Gower.

4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent.

   Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let [to be or to go] loose.

   Pharaoh said, I will let you go.
   --Ex. viii. 28.

   If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is.
   --Shak.

5. To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; -- often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses.

6. To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; -- often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering. Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. `` Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let.'' --Thackeray. In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. `` Rise up, let us go.'' --Mark xiv. 42. `` Let us seek out some desolate shade.'' --Shak. To let alone, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with. To let blood, to cause blood to flow; to bleed. To let down.

   1. To lower.

   2. To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like. To let fly or To let drive, to discharge with violence, as a blow, an arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly. To let in or To let into.

      1. To permit or suffer to enter; to admit.

      2. To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a surface for the purpose. To let loose, to remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large. To let off.

         1. To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the charge of, as a gun.

         2. To release, as from an engagement or obligation. To let out.

            1. To allow to go forth; as, to let out a prisoner.

            2. To extend or loosen, as the folds of a garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord.

   3. To lease; to give out for performance by contract, as a job.

   4. To divulge.

      To let slide, to let go; to cease to care for. [Colloq.] `` Let the world slide.''
      --Shak.

Loose \Loose\ (l[=oo]s), a. [Compar. Looser (l[=oo]s"[~e]r); 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. [root]127. 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.