Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LOSE, v.t. [looz; pret. and pp. lost. Sax. losian, forlosian, forlysan; D. verliezen; Goth. liusan. The sense is probably to part, to separate, and from the root of loose.]

1. To mislay; to part or be separated from a thing, so as to have no knowledge of the place where it is; as, to lose a book or a paper; to lose a record; to lose a dollar or a ducat.
2. To forfeit by unsuccessful contest; as, to lose money in gaming.
3. Not to gain or win; as, to lose a battle, that is, to be defeated.
4. To be deprived of; as, to lose men in battle; to lose an arm or a leg by a shot or by amputation; to lose one's life or honor.
5. To forfeit, as a penalty. Our first parents lost the favor of God by their apostasy.
6. To suffer diminution or waste of. If the salt hath lose its savor, wherewith shell it be salted? – Matth. v.
7. To ruin; to destroy. The woman that deliberates is lost. – Addison.
8. To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; as, to lose the way.
9. To bewilder. Lose in the maze of words. – Pope.
10. To possess do longer; to be deprived of; contrary to, keep; as, to lose a valuable trade.
11. Not to employ or enjoy; to waste. Titus sighed to lose a day. Th' unhappy have but hours, and these they lose. – Dryden.
12. To waste; to squander; to throw away; as, to lose a fortune by gaming, or by dissipation.
13. To suffer to vanish from view or perception. We lost sight of the land at noon. I lost my companion in the crowd. Like following life in creatures we dissect, / We lose it in the moment we detect. – Pope.
14. To ruin; to destroy by shipwreck, &c. The Albion was lost on the coast of Ireland, April 22, 1822. The admiral lost three ships in a tempest.
15. To cause to perish; as, to be lost at sea.
16. To employ ineffectually; to throw away; to waste. Instruction is often lost on the dull; admonition is last on the profligate. It is often the fate of projectors to lose their labor.
17. To be freed from. His scaly back the bunch has got / Which Edwin lost before. – Parnell.
18. To fail to obtain. He shalt in no wise lose his reward. Matth. i. To lose one's self, to be bewildered; also, to slumber; to have the memory and reason suspended.