English Dictionary
◊ LOSE
lose
v 1: fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either
physically or in an abstract sense; fail to keep in mind
or in sight; "She lost her purse when she left it
unattended on her seat"; "She lost her husband a year
ago" [ant: {keep}]
2: fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war" [ant: {win}]
3: suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; "She
lost her husband in the war"
4: place (something) where one cannot find it again; "I
misplaced my eyeglasses" [syn: {misplace}, {mislay}]
5: miss from one's possessions; lose sight of; "I've lost my
glasses again!" [ant: {find}]
6: allow to go out of sight: "The detective lost the man he was
shadowing after he had to stop at a red light"
7: fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to
profit; "I lost thousands of dollars on that bad
investment!" [ant: {profit}, {break even}]
8: fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a
year abroad" [ant: {win}]
9: retreat [syn: {fall back}, {drop off}, {fall behind}, {recede}]
[ant: {gain}]
10: fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind; "I
missed that remark"; "She missed his point"; "We lost
part of what he said" [syn: {miss}]
English Computing Dictionary
◊ LOSE
lose
({MIT}) 1. To fail. A program loses when it
encounters an exceptional condition or fails to work in the
expected manner.
2. To be exceptionally unesthetic or crocky.
3. Of people, to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as opposed
to ignorant).
4. Refers to something that is {losing}, especially in the
phrases "That's a lose!" and "What a lose!"
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-04-19)