online medical dictionary | definition of loose

1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book. "Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat." (Shak)

2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; with from or of. "Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ?" (Addison)

3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.

4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. "With horse and chariots ranked in loose array." (Milton)

5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. "The comparison employed . . . Must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation." (Whewel)

6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. "The loose morality which he had learned." (Sir W. Scott)

7. Unconnected; rambling. "Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages." (I. Watts)

8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.

9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. "Loose ladies in delight." (Spenser)

10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. at loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed. Fast and loose. See Fast. To break loose. See Break. Loose pulley.

<machinery> See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast. To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.

Origin: OE. Loos, lous, laus, Icel. Lauss; akin to OD. Loos, D. Los, AS. Leas false, deceitful, G. Los, loose, Dan. & Sw. Los, Goth. Laus, and E. Lose. See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood.

(01 Mar 1998)