loss
detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get: to bear the loss of a robbery.
something that is lost: The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.
an amount or number lost: The loss of life increased each day.
the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had: the loss of old friends.
death, or the fact of being dead: to mourn the loss of a grandparent.
the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.: to discover the loss of a document.
a losing by defeat; failure to win: the loss of a bet.
failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.
failure to preserve or maintain: loss of engine speed at high altitudes.
destruction or ruin: the loss of a ship by fire.
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.
Military.
the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc.
Often losses. the number of soldiers so lost.
Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.
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 about loss
at a loss,
at less than cost; at a financial loss.
in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed: We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.
Origin of loss
1Other words for loss
Opposites for loss
Other words from loss
- pre·loss, noun
Words that may be confused with loss
- lose, loss
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use loss in a sentence
Hurricane Ike, a Category 4 storm that hit Houston in 2008, caused about $20 billion in insured losses in today’s dollars.
Insurers are getting nervous as Hurricane Laura is set to make landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm | Jeremy Kahn | August 26, 2020 | FortuneThat compared to a loss of $15 million on revenue of $28 million in the same period a year earlier.
Asana files for direct listing amid slew of software IPOs | Verne Kopytoff | August 24, 2020 | FortuneA significant portion of these losses was attributed to the shutdown of on-site sales from tasting rooms and other on-premise sales.
Craft distillers have lost out on more than $700 million in sales because of the pandemic | Rachel King | August 20, 2020 | FortuneIf you think about it, every metric on the ranking algorithm’s radar makes sense because it corresponds to the 6 key factors that determine Instagram ranking gains and losses.
How to optimize for the Instagram algorithm in 2020 | Julia Miashkova | August 19, 2020 | Search Engine WatchUnlike the Mystics, who will need to shift a variety of players into new roles to weather their losses, the Sparks have obvious solutions for the loss of both these players.
So do losses, such as the widespread legalization of same-sex marriage.
The rest of the losses came in Romney red states, plus purple North Carolina (where Sen. Kay Hagan lost by only 1.7 percent).
In a recent interview with NJTV, Booker called the Watershed, “one of the big policy losses that I had in Newark.”
The Ugly Truth About Cory Booker, New Jersey’s Golden Boy | Olivia Nuzzi | October 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd my opinion is that each time we will see that, the losses will increase.
Vilified Bitcoin Tycoon After Losing $500 Million: My Life Is at Risk | Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky | September 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter the losses that left virtually no American family untouched, the outcome of the war remained uncertain.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed | Marc Wortman | September 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHunter-Weston despite his heavy losses will be advancing to-morrow which should divert pressure from you.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonIn order not to weary your Majesty, I shall not dwell longer upon this, or spend time setting forth our losses.
The American losses were seven men wounded, none killed, and only slight damage to one vessel.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanWith the sum thus realized, I say, you propose to make good the losses which the bank has suffered by your improvidence?
Besides immense losses in dead and wounded, he had to abandon two hundred and twenty cannon and all his supplies.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
British Dictionary definitions for loss
/ (lɒs) /
the act or an instance of losing
the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing: a loss of reputation
the person, thing, or amount lost: a large loss
(plural) military personnel lost by death or capture
(sometimes plural) the amount by which the costs of a business transaction or operation exceed its revenue
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
insurance
an occurrence of something that has been insured against, thus giving rise to a claim by a policyholder
the amount of the resulting claim
at a loss
uncertain what to do; bewildered
rendered helpless (for lack of something): at a loss for words
at less than the cost of buying, producing, or maintaining (something): the business ran at a loss for several years
Origin of loss
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with loss
see at a loss; cut one's losses; dead loss.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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