Meaning of lose In English

• 0 to no longer have something because you do not know where it is:

  • I've lost my ticket.

  • He's always losing his car keys.

  • At least 600 staff will lose their jobs if the factory closes.

  • He lost his leg in a car accident.

  • She lost her mother (= her mother died) last year.

  • to lose confidence/faith

  • I lost interest halfway through the book.

  • He kept on crying and I lost my patience.

  • I'm trying to lose weight.

  • He's losing his hair.

  • She lost a lot of blood in the accident.

  • to lose your memory/sight

  • Four million hours were lost last year through stress-related illnesses.

  • We lost valuable time stuck in traffic.

  • My watch loses ten minutes every day.

  • Lose the belt and let's see how the dress looks.

  • Banks will lose millions of pounds because of new legislation.

• 1 to fail to succeed in a game, competition, etc.:

  • If we lose this game, we're out of the championship.

  • They're losing 3–1.

  • They lost to Cincinnati.

  • Everyone hates losing an argument.

  • They hadn't lost an election in 15 years.

• 2 to not be able to find something:

  • I lost my keys somewhere in the house.

  • Two officers chased the suspect, but he turned down an alley and they lost sight of him (= could no longer see him).

• 3 to no longer have something, because it has been taken away from you, either by accident or purposely:

  • Workers will lose their jobs if the plant closes.

  • He lost his leg in a car accident.

  • George lost his wife in 1990.

• 4 to fail to succeed in a game or competition:

  • [ I ] If we lose again, we’re out of the playoffs.

  • [ T ] Anderson lost the election by a narrow margin.

• 5 to not maintain or no longer have control over a quality or ability:

  • She used to play tennis regularly, but lately she’s lost interest in it.

  • The driver lost control of her car.

  • The dog is losing her eyesight/hearing/sense of smell.

  • Carl lost his balance and fell down the stairs.

• 6 to have less of something, esp. in the body:

  • to lose blood/weight

• 7 to confuse someone:

  • I’m sorry, you’ve lost me – would you go over that again?

• 8 to no longer have something or have less of something, because it has been taken away from you, or you fail to keep it:

  • Manufacturing lost 11,000 jobs in June after several months of small increases.

  • She was among 40 people who lost their jobs when the plant closed.

  • lose business/market share/sales The company has steadily lost market share over the past 15 years.

  • The company has lost its place as the world's number one automaker.

  • lose sth to sth Last year, the company lost at least 30 working days to strikes.

  • lose sth to sb The business began to lose clients to the new supermarket.

  • The organization has lost the finest director it has ever had.

  • Homeowners technically could still lose their homes over unpaid rent.

• 9 if you lose time, you waste it:

  • Four million working hours were lost last year through stress-related illnesses.

  • There is no time to be lost in securing the deal.

• 10 to spend more money than you receive, fail to keep money that you had, or cause a loss of money:

  • The airline lost £40m from a strike at the airport in the summer.

  • Companies must compensate employees who lose financially because of a misleading, inaccurate, or unfair reference.

  • lose sb sth We cannot continue with an area of business that is losing us millions.

  • lose sth on sth He lost $50000 on the stock market.

  • The company has lost money over the last few years.

• 11 to go down in price or value:

  • The company's shares lost 10.75p to 416p .

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 107.42 points in the past two days.

• 12 to lose the respect of other people because of something you have done:

  • Both companies are denying responsibility for the crisis, as neither wants to lose face.

• 13 to become less popular, fall in value, or be given less support:

  • California still tops the 50 states in tech exports but is losing ground.

  • The stock started losing ground with the rest of the market in midmorning and closed down 18p.

• 14 to forget about an important idea or fact because you are thinking about other things:

  • In their attempts to increase profits, they have lost sight of the importance of customer satisfaction.

• 15 to lose a lot of money:

  • It would be wrong to suggest that all investors have lost their shirts.