31 to lose the plot → see plot
32 to lose sight of → see sight
33 to lose your temper → see temper
34 to lose touch → see touch
35 to lose track of → see track
▸ lose out PHRASAL VERB If you lose out , you suffer a loss or disadvantage because you have not succeeded in what you were doing. □ [V P ] We both lost out. □ [V P + to ] Laura lost out to Tom. □ [V P + in ] Women have lost out in this new pay flexibility. □ [V P + on ] Egypt has lost out on revenues from the Suez Canal. COLLOCATIONS lose VERB 4
lose + noun : confidence, faith, interest; control
los|er /luː zə r / (losers )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The losers of a game, contest, or struggle are the people who are defeated or beaten. □ [+ of ] …the winners and losers of this year's Super Bowl. ● PHRASE If someone is a good loser , they accept that they have lost a game or contest without complaining. If someone is a bad loser , they hate losing and complain about it. □ I'm sure the prime minister will turn out to be a good loser. □ You are a very bad loser Lou, aren't you?
2 N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as a loser , you have a low opinion of them because you think they are always unsuccessful. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ You're a bunch of losers.
3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] People who are losers as the result of an action or event, are in a worse situation because of it or do not benefit from it. □ Some of Britain's top business leaders of the 1980s became the country's greatest losers in the recession.
loss ◆◆◇ /lɒ s, [AM ] lɔː s/ (losses )
1 N‑VAR Loss is the fact of no longer having something or having less of it than before. □ [+ of ] …loss of sight. □ [+ of ] The loss of income for the government is about $250 million a month. □ …hair loss. □ The job losses will reduce the total workforce to 7,000.
2 N‑VAR Loss of life occurs when people die. □ [+ of ] …a terrible loss of human life. □ The allies suffered less than 20 casualties while enemy losses were said to be high.
3 N‑UNCOUNT The loss of a relative or friend is their death. □ [+ of ] They took the time to talk about the loss of Thomas and how their grief was affecting them. □ [+ of ] …the loss of his mother.
4 N‑VAR If a business makes a loss , it earns less than it spends. □ [+ of ] That year the company made a loss of nine hundred million pounds. □ The company stopped producing fertilizer because of continued losses. □ …profit and loss.
5 N‑UNCOUNT Loss is the feeling of sadness you experience when someone or something you like is taken away from you. □ Talk to others about your feelings of loss and grief.
6 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A loss is the disadvantage you suffer when a valuable and useful person or thing leaves or is taken away. □ [+ to ] She said his death was a great loss to herself.
7 N‑UNCOUNT The loss of something such as heat, blood, or fluid is the gradual reduction of it or of its level in a system or in someone's body. □ …blood loss. □ …weight loss. □ [+ of ] …a rapid loss of heat from the body.
8 PHRASE If a business produces something at a loss , they sell it at a price which is less than it cost them to produce it or buy it. [BUSINESS ] □ New fashion designs have to be sold off at a loss if sales are poor.
9 PHRASE If you say that you are at a loss , you mean that you do not know what to do in a particular situation. □ The government is at a loss to know how to tackle the violence.
10 PHRASE If you cut your losses , you stop doing what you were doing in order to prevent the bad situation that you are in becoming worse. □ Directors are right to cut their losses, admit they chose the wrong man and make a change.
11 PHRASE If you say that someone or something is a dead loss , you have a low opinion of them because you think they are completely useless or unsuccessful. [BRIT , INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ I'd had no experience of organizing anything of that sort. I think I was largely a dead loss. COLLOCATIONS loss
1
noun + loss : hair, hearing, memory, weight
adjective + loss : heavy, huge, massive
3
adjective + loss : heartbeaking, sad, tragic
verb + loss : mourn, suffer
4
adjective + loss : attributable; net, pre-tax
verb + loss : incur; record, report; offset
lo ss ad|just|er (loss adjusters ) also loss adjustor N‑COUNT A loss adjuster is someone who is employed by an insurance company to decide how much money should be paid to a person making a claim. [BRIT , BUSINESS ] in AM, use insurance adjuster , claims adjuster
lo ss lead|er (loss leaders ) also loss-leader N‑COUNT A loss leader is an item that is sold at such a low price that it makes a loss in the hope that customers will be attracted by it and buy other goods at the same shop. [BUSINESS ]
lost ◆◇◇ /lɒ st, [AM ] lɔː st/
1 Lost is the past tense and past participle of lose .