Dictionary entry details
• LOOSE (adjective)
Meaning:
Not restrained or confined or attached
Context examples:
a pocket full of loose bills / knocked the ball loose / got loose from his attacker
Similar:
free (able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint)
Meaning:
Not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
Context example:
loose gravel
Similar:
unconsolidated (loose and unstratified)
silty (full of silt)
shifting; unfirm ((of soil) unstable)
friable; light; sandy ((used of soil) loose and large-grained in consistency)
Antonym:
compact (closely and firmly united or packed together)
Meaning:
(of a ball in sport) not in the possession or control of any player
Context example:
a loose ball
Similar:
uncontrolled (not being under control; out of control)
Domain category:
athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)
Meaning:
Not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting
Context examples:
loose clothing / the large shoes were very loose
Similar:
baggy; loose-fitting; sloppy (not fitting closely; hanging loosely)
flyaway ((of hair or clothing) worn loose)
Also:
lax (not taut or rigid; not stretched or held tight)
Antonym:
tight (closely constrained or constricted or constricting)
Meaning:
Not officially recognized or controlled
Synonyms:
informal; loose
Context examples:
an informal agreement / a loose organization of the local farmers
Similar:
unofficial (not having official authority or sanction)
Meaning:
Not literal
Synonyms:
liberal; loose; free
Context examples:
a loose interpretation of what she had been told / a free translation of the poem
Similar:
inexact (not exact)
Meaning:
Emptying easily or excessively
Synonyms:
lax; loose
Context example:
loose bowels
Similar:
regular; unconstipated (not constipated)
Meaning:
Not affixed
Synonyms:
unaffixed; loose
Context example:
the stamp came loose
Meaning:
Not tense or taut
Synonyms:
slack; loose
Context examples:
the old man's skin hung loose and grey / slack and wrinkled skin / slack sails / a slack rope
Similar:
lax (not taut or rigid; not stretched or held tight)
Meaning:
(of textures) full of small openings or gaps
Synonyms:
open; loose
Context examples:
an open texture / a loose weave
Similar:
coarse; harsh (of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles)
Meaning:
Not fixed firmly or tightly
Context examples:
the bolts became loose over time / a loose chair leg / loose bricks
Similar:
insecure (not firm or firmly fixed; likely to fail or give way)
Meaning:
Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility
Synonyms:
idle; loose
Context examples:
idle talk / a loose tongue
Similar:
irresponsible (showing lack of care for consequences)
Meaning:
Not carefully arranged in a package
Context example:
a box of loose nails
Similar:
unpackaged (not packaged or put into packets)
Meaning:
Freely producing mucus
Context example:
a loose phlegmy cough
Similar:
phlegmy (characterized by phlegm)
Meaning:
Having escaped, especially from confinement
Synonyms:
on the loose; escaped; at large; loose
Context examples:
a convict still at large / searching for two escaped prisoners / dogs loose on the streets / criminals on the loose in the neighborhood
Similar:
free (able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint)
Meaning:
Casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior
Synonyms:
wanton; sluttish; promiscuous; easy; loose; light
Context examples:
her easy virtue / he was told to avoid loose (or light) women / wanton behavior
Similar:
unchaste (not chaste)
Meaning:
Not bound or fastened or gathered together
Context examples:
loose pages / loose papers
Similar:
unbound (not secured within a cover)
• LOOSE (verb)
Meaning:
Grant freedom to; free from confinement
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
unloosen; unloose; loose; free; release; liberate
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loose"):
bail out (free on bail)
run (set animals loose to graze)
bail (release after a security has been paid)
unchain (make free)
unspell (release from a spell)
parole (release a criminal from detention and place him on parole)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
They want to loose the prisoners
Meaning:
Turn loose or free from restraint
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
loose; let loose; unleash
Context examples:
let loose mines / Loose terrible plagues upon humanity
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
let go; let go of; release; relinquish (release, as from one's grip)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Make loose or looser
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
loosen; loose
Context example:
loosen the tension on a rope
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Cause:
loose; loosen; relax (become loose or looser or less tight)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loose"):
relax; unbend (make less tight)
remit; slacken (make slack as by lessening tension or firmness)
slack (release tension on)
unscrew (loosen something by unscrewing it)
unscrew (loosen by turning)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Become loose or looser or less tight
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
relax; loose; loosen
Context examples:
The noose loosened / the rope relaxed
Hypernyms (to "loose" is one way to...):
weaken (become weaker)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
• LOOSE (adverb)
Meaning:
Without restraint
Synonyms:
free; loose
Context example:
cows in India are running loose
Pertainym:
loose (not restrained or confined or attached)
