Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her
favorite dove. --Prior.
2. To cease to have; to possess no longer; to suffer
diminution of; as, to lose one's relish for anything; to
lose one's health.
If the salt hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it
be salted ? --Matt. v. 13.
3. Not to employ; to employ ineffectually; to throw away; to
waste; to squander; as, to lose a day; to lose the
benefits of instruction.
The unhappy have but hours, and these they lose.
--Dryden.
4. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to and; to
go astray from; as, to lose one's way.
He hath lost his fellows. --Shak
5. To ruin; to destroy; as destroy; as, the ship was lost on
the ledge.
The woman that deliberates is lost. --Addison.
6. To be deprived of the view of; to cease to see or know the
whereabouts of; as, he lost his companion in the crowd.
Like following life thro' creatures you dissect, You
lose it in the moment you detect. --Pope.
7. To fail to obtain or enjoy; to fail to gain or win; hence,
to fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss; as, I
lost a part of what he said.
He shall in no wise lose his reward. --Matt. x. 42.
I fought the battle bravely which I lost, And lost
it but to Macedonians. --Dryden.
8. To cause to part with; to deprive of. [R.]
How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves
with so much passion ? --Sir W.
Temple.
9. To prevent from gaining or obtaining.
O false heart ! thou hadst almost betrayed me to
eternal flames, and lost me this glory. --Baxter.
{To lose ground}, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or
disadvantage.
{To lose heart}, to lose courage; to become timid. ``The
mutineers lost heart.'' --Macaulay.
{To lose one's head}, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose
the use of one's good sense or judgment.
In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars
lost their heads. --Whitney.
{To lose one's self}.
(a) To forget or mistake the bearing of surrounding
objects; as, to lose one's self in a great city.
(b) To have the perceptive and rational power temporarily
suspended; as, we lose ourselves in sleep.
{To lose sight of}.
(a) To cease to see; as, to lose sight of the land.
(b) To overlook; to forget; to fail to perceive; as, he
lost sight of the issue.
Amongst the many simoniacal that swarmed in the land,
Herbert, Bishop of Thetford, must not be forgotten;
nick-named Losing, that is, the Fratterer. --Fuller.
Who strive sit out losing hands are lost. --Herbert.