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.
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.
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.