loose
adj 1: not restrained or confined or attached; "a pocket full of
loose bills"; "knocked the ball loose"; "got loose
from his attacker"
2: not compact or dense in structure or arrangement; "loose
gravel" [ant: {compact}]
3: (of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any
player; "a loose ball"
4: not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or
constricting; "loose clothing"; "the large shoes were very
loose" [ant: {tight}]
5: not officially recognized or controlled; "an informal
agreement"; "a loose organization of the local farmers"
[syn: {informal}]
6: not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been
told"; "a free translation of the poem" [syn: {free}, {liberal}]
7: emptying easily or excessively; "loose bowels" [syn: {lax}]
8: not affixed; "the stamp came loose" [syn: {unaffixed}] [ant:
{affixed}]
9: not tense or taut; "the old man's skin hung loose and gray";
"slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack rope"
[syn: {slack}]
10: (of textures) full of small openings or gaps; "an open
texture"; "a loose weave" [syn: {open}]
11: not fixed firmly or tightly; "the bolts became loose over
time"; "a loose chair leg"; "loose bricks"
12: lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk";
"a loose tongue" [syn: {idle}]
13: not carefully arranged in a package; "a box of loose nails"
14: freely producing mucus; "a loose phlegmy cough"
15: having escaped, especially from confinement; "a convict
still at large"; "searching for two escaped prisoners";
"dogs loose on the streets"; "criminals on the loose in
the neighborhood" [syn: {at large(p)}, {at liberty(p)}, {escaped},
{on the loose(p)}]
16: casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior; "her easy
virtue"; "he was told to avoid loose (or light) women";
"wanton behavior" [syn: {easy}, {light}, {promiscuous}, {sluttish},
{wanton}]
17: not bound or fastened or gathered together; "loose pages";
"loose papers"
adv : without restraint; "cows in India are running loose" [syn: {free}]
v 1: grant freedom to; free from confinement [syn: {free}, {liberate},
{release}, {unloose}] [ant: {confine}]
2: turn loose or free from restraint; "let loose mines"; "Loose
terrible plagues upon humanity" [syn: {unleash}, {let
loose}]
3: become less tight; "the rope relaxed" [syn: {relax}]
4: make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope" [syn: {loosen}]
[ant: {stiffen}]