- At loose ends
- Loose Loose (l[=oo]s), a. [Compar. {Looser} (l[=oo]s"[~e]r);
superl. {Loosest}.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin
to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los,
loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s, Goth. laus, and E. lose. [root]127.
See {Lose}, and cf. {Leasing} falsehood.]
1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed,
or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.
[1913 Webster]
Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; -- with from or of. [1913 Webster]
Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? --Addison. [1913 Webster]
3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment. [1913 Webster]
4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. [1913 Webster]
With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. [1913 Webster]
The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. --Whewel. [1913 Webster]
6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. [1913 Webster]
The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
7. Unconnected; rambling. [1913 Webster]
Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]
8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. [1913 Webster]
Loose ladies in delight. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
{At loose ends}, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.
{Fast and loose}. See under {Fast}.
{To break loose}. See under {Break}.
{Loose pulley}. (Mach.) See {Fast and loose pulleys}, under {Fast}.
{To let loose}, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
