loss

[laws, los]

noun

1. detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get.

   to bear the loss of a robbery.

   Antonyms: gain

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.

   Synonyms: deprivation, privation

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.

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. (plural) military personnel lost by death or capture

5. (sometimes plural) 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. 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

Other Word Forms

• preloss noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of loss¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English los “destruction”; cognate with Old Norse los “looseness, breakup”; lose ( def. ), loose ( def. ), -less ( def. ), lorn ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of loss¹

C14: noun probably formed from lost, past participle of losen to perish, from Old English lōsian to be destroyed, from los destruction

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. 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.

see at a loss; cut one's losses; dead loss.

Example Sentences

But less than a year after this filing, the company returned to court last month to declare bankruptcy once again, citing the loss of nearly $257 million between March and June.

From Los Angeles Times

The main characters’ bond over loss coils around a secret that burdens Dennis, a gay man fascinated with twinship, the more time they spend together.

From Los Angeles Times

Others around the church also mourned the loss of friends and tried to process what had happened.

From BBC

It’s painfully ironic that Oliphant could look at the world so hard, for so long, and be repaid with the slow loss of his eyesight, as Banowsky finds toward the end of the film.

From Salon

The new report also included a revision that showed a significant loss of jobs in June.

From Salon

Related Words

• accident 
• casualty 
• catastrophe 
• cost 
• damage 
• debt 
• defeat 
• deficit 
• destruction 
• disaster 
• failure 
• fall 
• injury 
• markdown 
• trouble