O false heart ! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames,
and lost me this glory.
Baxter.
To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or disadvantage.
-- To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. "The mutineers lost
heart." Macaulay. -- To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's
balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment.
In the excitement of such a discovery, many scholars lost their
heads.
Whitney.
-- To lose one's self. (a) To forget or mistake the bearing of
surrounding objects; as, to lose one's self in a great city. (b) To
have the perceptive and rational power temporarily suspended; as, we
lose ourselves in sleep. -- To lose sight of. (a) To cease to see; as,
to lose sight of the land. (b) To overlook; to forget; to fail to
perceive; as, he lost sight of the issue.
Lose (?), v. i. To suffer loss, disadvantage, or defeat; to be worse
off, esp. as the result of any kind of contest.
We 'll . . . hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk
with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out.
Shak.
Los"el (?), n. [From the root of lose, loss. √127. Cf. Lorel.]
One who loses by sloth or neglect; a worthless person; a lorel.
[Archaic] Spenser.
One sad losel soils a name for aye.
Byron.
Los"el, a. Wasteful; slothful.
Los"en*ger (?), n. [OF. losengier, losengeor, fr. losengier to deceive,
flatter, losenge, flattery, Pr. lauzenga, fr. L. laus praise. Cf.
Lozenge.] A flatterer; a deceiver; a cozener. [Obs.] Chaucer.
To a fair pair of gallows, there to end their lives with shame, as
a number of such other losengers had done.
Holinshed.
Los"en*ger*ie (?), n. [OF.] Flattery; deceit; trickery. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Los"er (?), n. One who loses. South.
Lo"sing (?), a. [See Losenger.] Given to flattery or deceit;
flattering; cozening. [Obs.]
Amongst the many simoniacal that swarmed in the land, Herbert,
Bishop of Thetford, must not be forgotten; nick-named Losing, that
is, the Flatterer.
Fuller.
Los"ing (?), a. [See Lose, v. t.] Causing or incurring loss; as, a
losing game or business.
Who strive to sit out losing hands are lost.
Herbert.
Los"ing*ly (?), adv. In a manner to incur loss.
Loss (ls; 115), n. [AS. los loss, losing, fr. leósan to lose.
√127. See Lose, v. t.] 1. The act of losing; failure;
destruction; privation; as, the loss of property; loss of money by
gaming; loss of health or reputation.
Assured loss before the match be played.
Shak.
2. The state of losing or having lost; the privation, defect,
misfortune, harm, etc., which ensues from losing.
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.
Shak.
3. That which is lost or from which one has parted; waste; -- opposed
to gain or increase; as, the loss of liquor by leakage was
considerable.
4. The state of being lost or destroyed; especially, the wreck or
foundering of a ship or other vessel.