looseness

looseness
loose ► ADJECTIVE 1) not firmly or tightly fixed in place. 2) not held, tied, or packaged together. 3) not bound or tethered. 4) not fitting tightly or closely. 5) not dense or compact. 6) relaxed: her loose, easy stride. 7) careless and indiscreet: loose talk. 8) not strict; inexact. 9) dated promiscuous or immoral. 10) (of the ball in a game) in play but not in any player's possession.
► VERB 1) unfasten or set free. 2) relax (one's grip). 3) (usu. loose off) discharge; fire.
● hang (or stay) loose — Cf. ↑stay loose
● on the loose — Cf. ↑on the loose
DERIVATIVES loosely adverb looseness noun.
USAGE The word loose is sometimes confused with lose; as a verb loose means ‘unfasten or set free’, while lose means ‘cease to have’ or ‘become unable to find’. It is therefore incorrect to say this would cause them to loose 20 percent , the correct version being … to lose 20 per cent.
ORIGIN Old Norse.

English terms dictionary. 2015.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Looseness — Loose ness, n. The state, condition, or quality, of being loose; as, the looseness of a cord; looseness of style; looseness of morals or of principles. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • looseness — index informality, laxity, vice Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • looseness — c.1400, from LOOSE (Cf. loose) + NESS (Cf. ness) …   Etymology dictionary

  • looseness — noun 1. frequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor • Syn: ↑diarrhea, ↑diarrhoea, ↑looseness of the bowels • Derivationally related forms: ↑loose, ↑diarrhoetic (for …   Useful english dictionary

  • looseness — noun /ˈluːsnəs/ a) The quality or fact of being free from rigidity, attachment or restraint; not tight, not firmly attached or taut. See if that nut has too much looseness and tighten it if it does. b) A relaxed state re …   Wiktionary

  • looseness of morals — index perversion Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • looseness of the bowels — noun frequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑diarrhea, ↑diarrhoea, ↑looseness • Derivationally related forms: ↑loose (for: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • looseness — noun see loose I …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • looseness — See loosely. * * * …   Universalium

  • looseness — Synonyms and related words: Bohemianism, affability, allowance, amorphousness, approximation, bagginess, blobbiness, blowziness, blurriness, broadness, carelessness, casualness, chambering, chintziness, common touch, cordiality, culpa, culpable… …   Moby Thesaurus

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