loosing


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loose

 (lo͞os)
adj. loos·er, loos·est
1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.
2. Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.
3. Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.
4. Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.
5. Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.
6. Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.
7. Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.
8. Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.
9. Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior.
10. Not literal or exact: a loose translation.
11. Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.
adv.
In a loose manner.
tr.v. loosed, loos·ing, loos·es
1. To let loose; release: loosed the dogs.
2. To make loose; undo: loosed his belt.
3. To cast loose; detach: hikers loosing their packs at camp.
4. To let fly; discharge: loosed an arrow.
5. To release pressure or obligation from; absolve: loosed her from the responsibility.
6. To make less strict; relax: a leader's strong authority that was loosed by easy times.
Idiom:
on the loose
1. At large; free.
2. Acting in an uninhibited fashion.
[Middle English louse, los, from Old Norse lauss; see leu- in Indo-European roots.]
loose′ly adv.
loose′ness n.
Synonyms: loose, lax, slack1
These adjectives mean not tautly bound, held, or fastened: loose reins; a lax rope; slack sails.
Antonym: tight
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

loosing

(ˈluːsɪŋ; -zɪŋ; ˈlɔɪ-) or

lowsening

n
dialect Yorkshire a celebration of one's 21st birthday
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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Well, I warn't long loosing the whoops down amongst the towheads; and I only tried to chase them a little while, anyway, be- cause it was worse than chasing a Jack-o'-lantern.
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