loss

[laws, los] /lɔs, lɒs/
noun
1.
detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get:
to bear the loss of a robbery.
2.
something that is lost:
The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.
3.
an amount or number lost:
The loss of life increased each day.
4.
the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had:
the loss of old friends.
5.
death, or the fact of being dead:
to mourn the loss of a grandparent.
6.
the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.:
to discover the loss of a document.
7.
a losing by defeat; failure to win:
the loss of a bet.
8.
failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.
9.
failure to preserve or maintain:
loss of engine speed at high altitudes.
10.
destruction or ruin:
the loss of a ship by fire.
11.
a thing or a number of related things that are lost or destroyed to some extent:
Most buildings in the burned district were a total loss.
12.
Military.
  1. the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc.
  2. Often, losses. the number of soldiers so lost.
13.
Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.
14.
Electricity. a measure of the power lost in a system, as by conversion to heat, expressed as a relation between power input and power output, as the ratio of or difference between the two quantities.
Idioms
15.
at a loss,
  1. at less than cost; at a financial loss.
  2. in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed:
    We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English los destruction; cognate with Old Norse los looseness, breaking up. See lose, loose
Related forms
preloss, noun
Can be confused
loose, loosen, lose, loss.
Synonyms
4. privation, deprivation.
Antonyms
1. gain.
Examples from the web for losses
  • But he had, on the other side, the comfort to find the losses richly repaired by the acquisition of new countries to the faith.
  • Of course there are people who can take losses beyond their means with perfect cheerfulness and composure.
  • We must face a condition of grim reality, charge off our losses and start afresh.
  • Some of these changes are gains: some of them are losses.
  • The nonbinding language also alludes to job losses that could occur if bank-based lending were abolished.
  • At those programs, losses continue to grow each year.
  • Officials from all of the universities say the potential losses will have no immediate impact on their operations.
  • Short term paper losses on long-term investments are meaningless.
  • Job losses have slowed, but unemployment remains high.
  • When the government is unable to collect on those loans, taxpayers are on the hook for the losses.
British Dictionary definitions for losses

loss

/lɒs/
noun
1.
the act or an instance of losing
2.
the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing: a loss of reputation
3.
the person, thing, or amount lost: a large loss
4.
(pl) military personnel lost by death or capture
5.
(sometimes pl) the amount by which the costs of a business transaction or operation exceed its revenue
6.
a measure of the power lost in an electrical system expressed as the ratio of or difference between the input power and the output power
7.
(insurance)
  1. an occurrence of something that has been insured against, thus giving rise to a claim by a policyholder
  2. the amount of the resulting claim
8.
at a loss
  1. uncertain what to do; bewildered
  2. rendered helpless (for lack of something): at a loss for words
  3. at less than the cost of buying, producing, or maintaining (something): the business ran at a loss for several years
Word Origin
C14: noun probably formed from lost, past participle of losen to perish, from Old English lōsian to be destroyed, from los destruction
Word Origin and History for losses

loss

n.

Old English los "loss, destruction," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (see lose). The modern word, however, probably evolved 14c. with a weaker sense, from lost, the original past participle of lose. Phrase at a loss (1590s) originally refers to hounds losing the scent. To cut (one's) losses is from 1885, originally in finance.

Slang definitions & phrases for losses

losses

Related Terms

cut one's losses


Idioms and Phrases with losses

loss

see: