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loose > define

verb

  • Grant freedom to; free from confinement.
  • Turn loose or free from restraint.
    • usage: "let loose mines"; "Loose terrible plagues upon humanity"
  • Make loose or looser.
    • usage: "loosen the tension on a rope"
  • Become loose or looser or less tight.
    • usage: "The noose loosened"; "the rope relaxed"

adjective

  • Not compact or dense in structure or arrangement.
    • usage: "loose gravel"
  • Of a ball in sport. ( not in the possession or control of any player)
    • usage: "a loose ball"
  • Not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting.
    • usage: "loose clothing"; "the large shoes were very loose"
  • Not officially recognized or controlled.
    • usage: "an informal agreement"; "a loose organization of the local farmers"
  • Not literal.
    • usage: "a loose interpretation of what she had been told"; "a free translation of the poem"
  • Emptying easily or excessively.
    • usage: "loose bowels"
  • Not affixed.
    • usage: "the stamp came loose"
  • Not tense or taut.
    • usage: "the old man's skin hung loose and grey"; "slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack rope"
  • Of textures. ( full of small openings or gaps)
    • usage: "an open texture"; "a loose weave"
  • Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility.
    • usage: "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"
  • Not carefully arranged in a package.
    • usage: "a box of loose nails"
  • Having escaped, especially from confinement.
    • usage: "a convict still at large"; "searching for two escaped prisoners"; "dogs loose on the streets"; "criminals on the loose in the neighborhood"
  • Casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior.
    • usage: "her easy virtue"; "he was told to avoid loose (or light) women"; "wanton behavior"

adverb

  • Without restraint.
    • usage: "cows in India are running loose"
by WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
by Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary