Revised as of 7 Dec 2022
This one drives me out of my mind. I’m almost guaranteed to find this word confusion in every other book I read! What are the editors thinking!?? Just because there’s an extra “o” in loose does not mean that the object is really lost! The two words do not even mean the same thing! Hullo . . .!
Can you tell it drives me mad?
There isn’t even the excuse that choose and chose have of one simply being the past tense and past participle of the other!
Can you imagine swapping one word for the other?
| Loose | Lose |
|---|---|
| Babe, loose shirt!
The shirt doesn’t fit tightly. |
Babe, lose shirt!
Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Someone wants her to take her shirt off. |
| I can be loose.
Somebody’s is feeling tight, tense. |
I can lose.
He’s either worried he’ll lose whatever this is or someone wants him to lose. |
| Are these too loose?
Probably a pair of pants she’s trying on. |
Are these to lose?
Can I misplace these with no repercussions? |
One brain tickler that might help you keep track of which one you want to use — yeah, the loose shirt versus lose shirt sent me off on this tangent — those two Os in loose could be some guy’s eyes getting all bug-eyed at the idea of looking down that girl’s loose shirt. Hey, it’s been a long day, LOL . . . if you’ve got a better tickler, let me know . . . please!
You may want to explore this post as well: “Loses versus Losses.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Loose versus Lose” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Loose | Lose |
|---|---|
Sewing Tape Measure was photographed by Jim Thomas under the GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 licenses, via Wikimedia Commons. — This roll is pretty loose. |
She Had a Lot to Lose is in the public domain, via PxHere. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Verb, transitive
Third person present verb: looses |
Verb, intransitive & transitive
Third person present verb: loses |
| Adjective: Not firmly or tightly fixed in place
[Of a garment] Not fitting tightly or closely Relaxed
Verb, transitive:
|
Verb, intransitive: Fail to win a game or contest Earn less money than one is spending or has spent Verb, transitive:
Become unable to find something or someone
Fail to win a game or contest
Earn less money than one is spending or has spent |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: Jack has a loose tooth. Oh, no, the truck’s trailer came loose. Wear your hair loose. His pockets were bulging with loose change. The bull was loose with cattle in the field. The tethered horses broke loose. Well, it was kind of a loose interpretation. A gunny sack uses a loose weave. It was a loose federation of political and industrial groups. Many patients report loose bowel movements. She slipped into a loose T-shirt and shorts. She swung back into her easy, loose stride. There is too much loose talk about the situation. She ran the risk of being called a loose woman. It’s a loose ball, up for either side to grab. These pants are too loose. Oh, no! There’s a serial killer on the loose! Verb, transitive: The ropes were loosed. He loosed his grip suddenly. There are loose coins in his pocket. He loosed the dogs on them. He loosed his belt. She loosed an arrow right at him. They loosed her from the responsibility. It was a leader’s strong authority that was loosed by easy times. |
Verb, intransitive: They lost by one vote. Pete didn’t want to be on the losing side. He lost heavily on box-office flops. Verb, transitive: Linda was very upset about losing her job. The company may find itself losing customers to cheaper rivals. You lost me my appointment at the university. She lost her husband in the fire. She could lose the baby. A fishing disaster in which 19 local men were lost took place over five years ago. She couldn’t eat and began to lose weight. They lost every chance to score in the first inning. He’ll lose no time in attacking his opponent’s tax proposals. I swear this clock loses 10 minutes every day. In the end I completely lost it — I was screaming at them. Jamie always loses the car keys. The clouds came down, and we lost the path. He came after me waving his revolver, but I easily lost him. Lose that creep! Sorry, Tim, you’ve lost me there. He had been lost in thought. The Bears lost the final game of the series That shot lost him the championship. The paper is losing $500,000 a month. This project of yours is losing money hand over fist. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: loose-fitting, loose-footed, loose-jointed, loose-knit, loose-leaf, loose-limbed, looser, loosest, loosey-goosey, overloose Adverb: loosely, overloosely Noun: loosener, looseness, overlooseness Verb, transitive: loosen |
Adjective: lose-lose Noun: loser Verb, transitive: relose, relost, relosing |
| Phrasal Verb | |
| lose out | |
| History of the Word: | |
| Middle English loos meaning free from bonds, is from the Old Norse lauss and is of Germanic origin, related to the Dutch and the German los. | Old English, the before 12th century, from losian, meaning perish, destroy, also become unable to find.
Similar to the Old English lēosan, for to lose. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Loose vs Lose
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Loose Sign was photographed by Nigel Gibson, and is under the GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0 license and Sgt. McQuade, White House Policeman, Holding a Lost Child is by an unknown author and is in the public domain; both are via Wikimedia Commons.
