loose

loose  (ls)

adj. loos·er, loos·est

1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.

2. Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.

3. Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.

4. Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.

5. Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.

6. Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.

7. Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.

8. Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.

9. Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior.

10. Not literal or exact: a loose translation.

11. Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.

adv.

In a loose manner.

v. loosed, loos·ing, loos·es

v.tr.

1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.

2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.

3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.

4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.

5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.

6. To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.

v.intr.

1. To become loose.

2. To discharge a missile; fire.

Idiom:

on the loose

1. At large; free.

2. Acting in an uninhibited fashion.

---

[Middle English louse, los, from Old Norse lauss; see leu- in Indo-European roots.]

---

loosely adv.

looseness n.

Synonyms: loose, lax, slack¹
These adjectives mean not tautly bound, held, or fastened: loose reins; a lax rope; slack sails.

Antonym: tight

---

loose

Adjective

1. (of clothing) not close-fitting: the jacket loose and unbuttoned

2. free or released from confinement or restraint

3. not tight, fastened, fixed, or tense

4. not bundled, fastened, or put in a container: loose tobacco

5. inexact or imprecise: a loose translation

6. (of cash) accessible: a lot of the loose money is floating around the city

7. Old-fashioned sexually promiscuous

8. lacking a sense of propriety: loose talk

9. at a loose end bored because one has nothing to do

Noun

1. the loose Rugby the part of play when the forwards close round the ball in a ruck or loose scrum

2. on the loose free from confinement or restraint

Adverb

in a loose manner; loosely

Verb

[loosing, loosed]

1. to free or release from restraint or obligation: he loosed the dogs

2. to unfasten or untie: the guards loosed his arms

3. to make or become less strict, tight, firmly attached, or compact

4. to let fly (a bullet, arrow, or other missile) [Old Norse lauss free]

loosely adv
looseness n

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	loose - grant freedom to; free from confinement free, unloose, unloosen, liberate, release unspell - release from a spell unchain - make free bail - release after a security has been paid run - set animals loose to graze bail out - free on bail parole - release a criminal from detention and place him on parole; "The prisoner was paroled after serving 10 years in prison"
	2.	loose - turn loose or free from restraint; "let loose mines"; "Loose terrible plagues upon humanity" let loose, unleash let go, let go of, release, relinquish - release, as from one's grip; "Let go of the door handle, please!"; "relinquish your grip on the rope--you won't fall"
	3.	loose - make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope" loosen alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" relax, unbend - make less taut; "relax the tension on the rope" slacken, remit - make slack as by lessening tension or firmness slack - release tension on; "slack the rope" unscrew - loosen something by unscrewing it; "unscrew the outlet plate" unscrew - loosen by turning; "unscrew the bottle cap"
	4.	loose - become loose or looser or less tight; "The noose loosened"; "the rope relaxed" relax, loosen weaken - become weaker; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days"
Adj.	1.	loose - not compact or dense in structure or arrangement; "loose gravel" compact - closely and firmly united or packed together; "compact soil"; "compact clusters of flowers"
	2.	loose - (of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any player; "a loose ball" athletics, sport - an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition uncontrolled - not being under control; out of control; "the greatest uncontrolled health problem is AIDS"; "uncontrolled growth"
	3.	loose - not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting; "loose clothing"; "the large shoes were very loose" lax - lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; "a lax rope"; "a limp handshake" tight - closely constrained or constricted or constricting; "tight skirts"; "he hated tight starched collars"; "fingers closed in a tight fist"; "a tight feeling in his chest"
	4.	loose - not officially recognized or controlled; "an informal agreement"; "a loose organization of the local farmers" informal unofficial - not having official authority or sanction; "a sort of unofficial mayor"; "an unofficial estimate"; "he participated in an unofficial capacity"
	5.	loose - not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been told"; "a free translation of the poem" liberal, free inexact - not exact
	6.	loose - emptying easily or excessively; "loose bowels" lax unconstipated, regular - not constipated
	7.	loose - not affixed; "the stamp came loose" unaffixed
	8.	loose - not tense or taut; "the old man's skin hung loose and grey"; "slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack rope" slack lax - lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; "a lax rope"; "a limp handshake"
	9.	loose - (of textures) full of small openings or gaps; "an open texture"; "a loose weave" open coarse, harsh - of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles; "coarse meal"; "coarse sand"; "a coarse weave"
	10.	loose - lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue" idle irresponsible - showing lack of care for consequences; "behaved like an irresponsible idiot"; "hasty and irresponsible action"
	11.	loose - not carefully arranged in a package; "a box of loose nails" unpackaged - not packaged or put into packets; "unpackaged nuts"
	12.	loose - 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" at large, escaped, on the loose free - able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint; "free enterprise"; "a free port"; "a free country"; "I have an hour free"; "free will"; "free of racism"; "feel free to stay as long as you wish"; "a free choice"
	13.	loose - casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior; "her easy virtue"; "he was told to avoid loose (or light) women"; "wanton behavior" promiscuous, sluttish, wanton, easy, light unchaste - not chaste; "unchaste conduct"
Adv.	1.	loose - without restraint; "cows in India are running loose" free

---

loose

adjective 1. free, detached, insecure, unfettered, released, floating, wobbly, unsecured, unrestricted, untied, unattached, movable, unfastened, unbound, unconfined

adjective 2. slack, easy, hanging, relaxed, loosened, not fitting, sloppy, baggy, slackened, loose-fitting, not tight << OPPOSITE tight

adjective 3. (Old-fashioned) promiscuous, fast, abandoned, immoral, dissipated, lewd, wanton, profligate, disreputable, debauched, dissolute, libertine, licentious, unchaste << OPPOSITE chaste

adjective 4. vague, random, inaccurate, disordered, rambling, diffuse, indefinite, disconnected, imprecise, ill-defined, indistinct, inexact << OPPOSITE precise

verb 5. free, release, ease, liberate, detach, unleash, let go, undo, loosen, disconnect, set free, slacken, untie, disengage, unfasten, unbind, unloose, unbridle << OPPOSITE fasten

Translations

loose [luːs] adj (gen) → suelto (= not tight); flojo (= wobbly etc); movedizo; [clothes] → ancho; [morals, discipline] → relajado

vt (= free) → soltar (= slacken); aflojar;

(also: loose off) [+ arrow]; disparar, soltar;

loose connection (ELEC) → hilo desempalmado;

to be at a loose end or (US) at loose ends → no saber qué hacer;

to tie up loose ends (fig) → no dejar ningún cabo suelto, atar cabos

---

loose [luːs] adj [knot, screw] → desserré(e); [stone] → branlant(e); [clothes] → vague, ample, lâche; [hair] → dénoué(e) → épars(e) (= not firmly fixed); pas solide; [animal] → en liberté, échappé(e); [life] → dissolu(e); [morals, discipline] → relâché(e); [thinking] → peu rigoureux/euse, vague; [translation] → approximatif/ive

n to be on the loose → être en liberté vt (= free) [+ animal] → lâcher: [+ prisoner]; relâcher, libérer (= slacken); détendre, relâcher; desserrer; défaire; donner du mou a; donner du ballant à;

(Brit) [+ arrow]; tirer;

loose connection (Elec) → mauvais contact;

to be at a loose end or (US) at loose ends (fig); ne pas trop savoir quoi faire;

to tie up loose ends (fig) → mettre au point or régler les derniers détails

---

loose [luːs] adj → lose, locker; [clothes etc] → weit; [long hair] → offen (= not strictly controlled, promiscuous); locker; [definition] → ungenau; [translation] → frei

vt [animal] → loslassen; [prisoner] → freilassen (= set off, unleash); entfesseln

n to be on the loose → frei herumlaufen

---

loose [luːs] adj [knot] → sciolto/a; [screw] → allentato/a; [stone] → cadente; [clothes] → ampio/a, largo/a; [animal] → in libertà, scappato/a; [life, morals] → dissoluto/a; [discipline] → allentato/a; [thinking] → poco rigoroso/a, vago/a

vt (= untie) → sciogliere (= slacken); allentare (= free); liberare;

(BRIT) [+ arrow]; scoccare;

loose connection (ELEC) → filo che fa contatto;

to be at a loose end or (US) at loose ends (fig) → non saper che fare;

to tie up loose ends (fig) → avere ancora qualcosa da sistemare