Loose (?), a. [Compar. Looser (?); superl. Loosest.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le�xa0;s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. los, Goth. laus, and E. lose. See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood.]

1.

Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.

Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat. Shak.

2.

Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc. ; -- with from or of.

Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? Addison.

3.

Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.

4.

Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture.

With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. Milton.

5.

Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning.

The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. Whewel.

6.

Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right.

The loose morality which he had learned. Sir W. Scott.

7.

Unconnected; rambling.

Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. I. Watts.

8.

Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.

Locke.

9.

Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.

Loose ladies in delight. Spenser.

10.

Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle.

Dryden.

At loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed. -- Fast and loose. See under Fast. -- To break loose. See under Break. -- Loose pulley. Mach. See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast. -- To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.

 

© Webster 1913.


Loose, n.

1.

Freedom from restraint.

[Obs.]

Prior.

2.

A letting go; discharge.

B. Jonson.

To give a loose, to give freedom.

Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow. Addison.

 

© Webster 1913.


Loose (?), v. n. [imp. & p. p. Loosed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Loosing.] [From Loose, a.]

1.

To untie or unbind; to free from any fastening; to remove the shackles or fastenings of; to set free; to relieve.

Canst thou . . . loose the bands of Orion ? Job. xxxviii. 31.

Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me. Matt. xxi. 2.

2.

To release from anything obligatory or burdensome; to disengage; hence, to absolve; to remit.

Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife. 1 Cor. vii. 27.

Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matt. xvi. 19.

3.

To relax; to loosen; to make less strict.

The joints of his loins were loosed. Dan. v. 6.

4.

To solve; to interpret.

[Obs.]

Spenser.

 

© Webster 1913.


Loose, v. i.

To set sail.

[Obs.]

Acts xiii. 13.

 

© Webster 1913.