Loss Definition

lôs, lŏs
losses
noun
losses
An instance of this.
Webster's New World
A losing or being lost.
Webster's New World
The damage, trouble, disadvantage, deprivation, etc. caused by losing something.
Webster's New World
The condition of being deprived or bereaved of something or someone.
Her loss was made easier by the support of her friends.
American Heritage
The person, thing, or amount lost.
Webster's New World
idiom
at a loss
  • Below cost:

    sold the merchandise at a loss.

  • Perplexed; puzzled:

    I am at a loss to understand those remarks.

American Heritage
at a loss
  • in an uncertain or perplexed state; puzzled
  • so as to lose money

    to operate a business at a loss

Webster's New World
at a loss for words
  • temporarily unable to speak or to articulate one's feelings or thoughts, as from surprise or deep emotion
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Loss

Noun

Singular:
loss
Plural:
losses

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Loss

Origin of Loss

  • Old English has los "loss, destruction," from a Proto-Germanic root *lausam- (see lose), but the modern word probably evolved in the 14th century from lost, the original past participle of lose, itself from Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss", from a Proto-Germanic root *lausa (compare O.N. los "the breaking up of an army"), from Proto-Indo-Eeuopean base *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart, untie, separate"

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English los from Old English lose

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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