lose
/luːz/ verb (past tense and past participle lost)Definition
NOT FIND [T] › to not be able to find someone or something: I've lost my passport. She's always losing her car keys.
NOT HAVE [T] › to stop having someone or something that you had before: She lost a leg in a car accident. I hope he doesn't lose his job. He lost his mother (= his mother died) last year.
HAVE LESS [T] › to have less of something than you had before: She's lost a lot of weight. He's losing his hair. to lose your memory
NOT WIN [I, T] › If you lose a game, competition, or election, the team or person that you are competing with wins: Chelsea lost by a goal. They're losing 3-1. They hadn't lost an election in 15 years.
lose faith/interest/patience, etc › to stop feeling something good: I'm rapidly losing interest in the whole subject. He kept on crying and I lost my patience. I've lost faith in doctors.
TIME [T] › If you lose a number of hours or days, you cannot work during this time: Four million hours were lost last year through stress-related illnesses.
CLOCK [T] › If a clock loses time, it goes slower than it should: My watch loses ten minutes every day.
CONFUSE [T] informal › to confuse someone so that they do not understand something: No, you've lost me there - can you explain that again?
GET RID OF informal › to take something away, usually because it looks bad: Lose the belt, Andrea, it looks ridiculous with that dress.
lose your balance › to fall because you are leaning too much to one side
lose count of sth › to forget the exact number: I've lost count of how many times I've called her.
lose your life › to die: Millions of young men lost their lives in the war.
→ See also fight a losing battle → See also lose your cool → See also lose/save face → See also gain/lose ground → See also lose sight of sth → See also lose sleep over sth (Definition of lose verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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