English Explanatory Dictionary

loss

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The result of no longer possessing an object, a function, or a characteristic due to external causes or misplacement.
  2. The destruction or ruin of an object.
  3. Something that has been destroyed or ruined.
  4. Defeat; an instance of being defeated.
  5. The death of a person or animal.
  6. The condition of grief caused by losing someone or something, especially someone who has died.
  7. The sum an entity loses on balance.
  8. Electricity of kinetic power expended without doing useful work.
verb
  1. Alternative spelling of lost.

Pronunciation

/lɒs/ /lɔs/ /lɑs/ en-us-loss.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-loss.wav

Word forms

loss losses

Etymology

From Middle English los, from Old English los (“damage, destruction, loss”), from Proto-West Germanic *los, from Proto-Germanic *lusą (“dissolution, break-up, loss”), from Proto-Indo-European *lews- (“to cut, sunder, separate, loose, lose”). Cognate with Icelandic los (“dissolution, looseness, break-up”), Old English lor, forlor (“loss, ruin”), Middle High German verlor (“loss, ruin”). More at lose.

Synonyms

deperdition forlesing loss expense

Antonyms

acquisition win gain victory profit

Related words

lose losings

Derived words

at a loss at a loss for words blood loss bloodloss bone loss capital loss core loss dead loss deadweight loss drip loss ego loss for a loss for the loss generation loss habitat loss hair loss head loss headloss hearing loss hull loss instant loss instant loss 2koma lossage loss and damage loss and gain are brothers twain loss condition lossful loss function loss leader lossless lossmaker loss-maker loss-making loss of consortium loss of face loss of life loss of supply loss prevention lossproof loss ratio lossy net loss net operating loss one man's loss is another man's gain operating loss packet loss path loss pregnancy loss profit and loss profit and loss statement sightloss stop-loss stop loss stop-loss order stop loss order tackle for loss total loss vision loss wake loss weight loss
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