The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lose \Lose\ (l[=oo]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lost (l[o^]st; 115) p. pr. & vb. n. Losing (l[=oo]z"[i^]ng).] [OE. losien to loose, be lost, lose, AS. losian to become loose; akin to OE. leosen to lose, p. p. loren, lorn, AS. le['o]san, p. p. loren (in comp.), D. verliezen, G. verlieren, Dan. forlise, Sw. f["o]rlisa, f["o]rlora, Goth. fraliusan, also to E. loose, a & v., L. luere to loose, Gr. ly`ein, Skr. l[=u] to cut. [root]127. Cf. Analysis, Palsy, Solve, Forlorn, Leasing, Loose, Loss.]
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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 disaster Of having lost her favorite dove.
--Prior. -
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?
--Matt. v. 1 -
3. 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.
--Dryden. -
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.
--Shak -
To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on the ledge.
The woman that deliberates is lost.
--Addison. -
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.
--Pope. -
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.
--Matt. x. 42.I fought the battle bravely which I lost, And lost it but to Macedonians.
--Dryden. -
To cause to part with; to deprive of. [R.]
How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?
--Sir W. Temple. -
To prevent from gaining or obtaining. O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory. --Baxter. To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or disadvantage. To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. ``The mutineers lost heart.'' --Macaulay. To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment, through fear, anger, or other emotion. In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars lost their heads. --Whitney. To lose one's self.
To forget or mistake the bearing of surrounding objects; as, to lose one's self in a great city.
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To have the perceptive and rational power temporarily suspended; as, we lose ourselves in sleep. To lose sight of.
To cease to see; as, to lose sight of the land.
To overlook; to forget; to fail to perceive; as, he lost sight of the issue.
Usage examples of "to lose sight of".
I never wanted to lose sight of the fact that they were, at heart, the enemy.
I think she did not want to lose sight of the black man again so soon after we had found him.
Zachan made an effort to close up the ranks as quickly as possible so as not to lose sight of the prisoner for a single second.
Then, taking a deep breath and trying not to lose sight of the beast, I started to climb.
To describe it is almost impossible without descending into statistics and figures, and this is to lose sight of the reality.
Blake resolved not to lose sight of that once he finally severed his ties with the War Office.
The way became even steeper, and he fought not to lose sight of her among its many curves.
It would be very easy, working where she did, to lose sight of the simple, forthright concern for others that was a hallmark of the world Kafari had grown up in, a world very different from the one she had found in Madison.
In it, a woman stared at the car ahead with intensity, as if the worst thing that could happen would be for her to lose sight of the Renault.
Huon was sorry to lose sight of the beautiful dwarf, whose aspect had nothing in it to alarm.