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lose

The verb to lose means something has gone missing. Maybe it's your car keys. Maybe it's points in a game. Maybe it's the love of your life. Sorry about that.

You can physically lose something by misplacing it, or you can lose your pride in a competition. You can lose a game, you can lose your library book, you can lose money, you can lose your business, you can lose sight of your child, you can even lose your mind — basically, you can lose just about anything. Losing something is usually not a good thing, unless it's that annoying boyfriend or weight.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: lose

1
 v
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
2
 v
fail to win
3
 v
retreat
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: lose
1

v fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense

“She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat”
Antonyms:
hold on, keep
retain possession of
hold open, keep, keep open, save
retain rights to
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Types:
white-out, whiteout
lose daylight visibility in heavy fog, snow, or rain
sleep off
get rid of by sleeping

v suffer the loss of a person through death or removal

“She lost her husband in the war”
“The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her”
Type of:
suffer
experience (emotional) pain

v place (something) where one cannot find it again

Synonyms:
mislay, misplace
Type of:
lay, place, pose, position, put, set
put into a certain place or abstract location

v miss from one's possessions; lose sight of

“I've lost my glasses again!”
Antonyms:
find, regain
come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost
find
obtain through effort or management
find, recover, regain, retrieve
get or find back; recover the use of
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Types:
forget, leave
leave behind unintentionally

v allow to go out of sight

“The detective lost the man he was shadowing after he had to stop at a red light”

v fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind

“We lost part of what he said”
Synonyms:
miss
Types:
overlook
look past, fail to notice
2

v fail to win

“We lost the battle but we won the war”
Antonyms:
win
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
Types:
show 4 types...
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go down
be defeated
drop
lose (a game)
remain down, take the count
be counted out; remain down while the referee counts to ten
drop one's serve
lose a game in which one is serving

v fail to get or obtain

“I lost the opportunity to spend a year abroad”
Antonyms:
acquire, gain, win
win something through one's efforts

v fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit

“I lost thousands of dollars on that bad investment!”
Synonyms:
turn a loss
Antonyms:
profit, turn a profit
make a profit; gain money or materially
break even
make neither profit nor loss
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3

v retreat

Synonyms:
drop off, fall back, fall behind, recede
Antonyms:
advance, gain, gain ground, get ahead, make headway, pull ahead, win
obtain advantages, such as points, etc.
Type of:
regress, retrograde, retrogress
get worse or fall back to a previous condition

v be set at a disadvantage

Synonyms:
suffer
suffer
get worse
Type of:
decline, worsen
grow worse
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