2 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are lost or if you get lost , you do not know where you are or are unable to find your way. □ Barely had I set foot in the street when I realised I was lost. □ I took a wrong turn and we got lost in the mountains.
3 ADJ If something is lost , or gets lost , you cannot find it, for example because you have forgotten where you put it. □ …a lost book. □ My paper got lost. □ He was scrabbling for his pen, which had got lost somewhere under the sheets of paper.
4 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you feel lost , you feel very uncomfortable because you are in an unfamiliar situation. □ Of the funeral he remembered only the cold, the waiting, and feeling very lost. □ I feel lost and lonely in a strange town alone.
5 ADJ If you describe a person or group of people as lost , you think that they do not have a clear idea of what they want to do or achieve. □ They are a lost generation in search of an identity.
6 ADJ If you describe something as lost , you mean that you no longer have it or it no longer exists. □ …a lost job or promotion. □ The sense of community is lost. □ The riots will also mean lost income for Los Angeles County.
7 ADJ [ADJ n] You use lost to refer to a period or state of affairs that existed in the past and no longer exists. □ He seemed to pine for his lost youth. □ …the relics of a lost civilisation.
8 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If something is lost , it is not used properly and is considered wasted. □ He is not bitter about the lost opportunity to compete in the Games. □ The advantage is lost.
9 PHRASE If advice or a comment is lost on someone, they do not understand it or they pay no attention to it. □ The meaning of that was lost on me.
lo st and fou nd
1 N‑SING Lost and found is the place where lost property is kept. [AM ] in BRIT, use lost property 2 ADJ Lost and found things are things which someone has lost and which someone else has found. □ …the shelf where they stored lost-and-found articles. □ …the local paper's lost-and-found column.
lo st cau se (lost causes ) N‑COUNT If you refer to something or someone as a lost cause , you mean that people's attempts to change or influence them have no chance of succeeding. □ They do not want to expend energy in what, to them, is a lost cause.
lo st pro p|er|ty
1 N‑UNCOUNT Lost property consists of things that people have lost or accidentally left in a public place, for example on a train or in a school. □ Lost property should be handed to the driver.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Lost property is a place where lost property is kept. [BRIT ] □ I was enquiring in Lost Property at Derby. in AM, use lost and found
lo st sou l (lost souls ) N‑COUNT If you call someone a lost soul , you mean that they seem unhappy, and unable to fit in with any particular group of people in society. □ They just clung to each other like two lost souls.
lot ◆◆◆ /lɒ t/ (lots )
1 QUANT A lot of something or lots of it is a large amount of it. A lot of people or things, or lots of them, is a large number of them. □ A lot of our land is used to grow crops for export. □ I remember a lot of things. □ 'You'll find that everybody will try and help their colleague.'—'Yeah. There's a lot of that.' □ He drank lots of milk. □ A lot of the play is very funny. ● PRON Lot is also a pronoun. □ There's lots going on at Selfridges this month. □ [+ from ] I learned a lot from him about how to run a band. □ I know a lot has been said about my sister's role in my career.
2 ADV [ADV after v] A lot means to a great extent or degree. □ Matthew's out quite a lot doing his research. □ I like you, a lot. □ If I went out and accepted a job at a lot less money, I'd jeopardize a good career.
3 ADV [ADV after v] If you do something a lot , you do it often or for a long time. □ They went out a lot, to the Cafe Royal or The Ivy. □ [+ about ] He talks a lot about his own children.
4 N‑COUNT [num N ] You can use lot to refer to a set or group of things or people. □ [+ of ] He bought two lots of 1,000 shares in the company during August and September. □ [+ of ] We've just sacked one lot of builders.
5 N‑SING [adj N ] You can refer to a specific group of people as a particular lot . [INFORMAL ] □ Future generations are going to think that we were a pretty boring lot.
6 N‑SING You can use the lot to refer to the whole of an amount that you have just mentioned. [INFORMAL ] □ She was given £20 and by Monday morning had spent the lot.
7 N‑SING [usu with poss] Your lot is the kind of life you have or the things that you have or experience. □ [+ in ] Sometimes you just have to accept your lot in life .
8 N‑COUNT A lot is a small area of land that belongs to a person or company. [AM ] □ If oil or gold are discovered under your lot, you can sell the mineral rights.
9 → see also parking lot
10 N‑COUNT A lot in an auction is one of the objects or groups of objects that are being sold. □ The receivers are keen to sell the stores as one lot.
11 PHRASE If people draw lots to decide who will do something, they each take a piece of paper from a container. One or more pieces of paper is marked, and the people who take marked pieces are chosen. □ For the first time in a World Cup finals, lots had to be drawn to decide who would finish second and third.