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Added 9 October 2026

lose

/luːz/ verb

In Latin: āmittō, perdō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about lose at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense.
She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat
Fail to win.
We lost the battle but we won the war
Suffer the loss of a person through death or removal.
She lost her husband in the war

Origin

From Middle English losen, from Old English losian. The modern pronunciation with /uː/ (instead of the /oʊ~əʊ/ that would be expected from Early Modern /ɔː/) is due to conflation with loose.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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