Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Looser"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Loose \Loose\, a. [Compar. {Looser}; superl. {Loosest}.] [OE.
loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS.
le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s,
Goth. laus, and E. lose. ? See {Lose}, and cf. {Leasing}
falsehood.]
1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed,
or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.

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.


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.