World Book 1997 4.0

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ World Book 1997 4.0 / The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia v4.00.iso / data / dictdata / loose.dic < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1997-04-11 | 11.4 KB | 183 lines

<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: loose - loquacious</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="loose"> loose, adjective, looser, loosest, verb, loosed, loosing, adverb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. 1. not fastened. Ex. a loose thread. (SYN) unbound, unfastened, untied. <DD> 2. not tight. Ex. loose clothing, loose reins. (SYN) slack. <DD> 3. not firmly set or fastened in. Ex. a loose tooth, loose planks on a bridge. <DD> 4. not bound together. Ex. loose papers. <DD> 5. not put up in a box, can, or other container. Ex. loose coffee. <DD> 6. not shut in or up; free. Ex. The dog has been loose all night. <DD> 7. not pressed close together; having spaces between the parts; open. Ex. loose earth, cloth with a loose weave. <DD> 8. (Figurative.) not strict, close, or exact. Ex. a loose account of the accident, a loose translation from another language, loose thinking. His loose grammar was the fruit of careless habit, not ignorance (Mark Twain). (SYN) vague, indefinite, careless. <DD> 9. (Figurative.) moving too freely; not retentive. Ex. a loose tongue; a good deal of loose information (Thomas Carlyle). A kind of men so loose of soul, That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs (Shakespeare). <DD> 10. (Figurative.) careless about morals or conduct. Ex. a loose character. The loose political morality of Fox presented a remarkable contrast to the ostentatious purity of Pitt (Macaulay). (SYN) wanton, immoral. <DD> 11. (Informal.) not tense; relaxed. <DD> 12. (Informal.) not employed; not appropriated. Ex. loose hours, loose funds. <DD> 13. (of a chemical element) free; uncombined. <DD>v.t. 1. to set free; let go. Ex. He loosed my arm from his grip. Ye shall find a colt tied ...; loose him, and bring him (Mark 11:2). <DD> 2. to shoot (an arrow, shot from a gun, or other missile). Ex. The attacking Indians loosed a volley of arrows against the fort. (Figurative.) [The] Agriculture Secretary loosed a blast at Congressional critics of his farm program (Wall Street Journal). <DD> 3. to make loose; untie; unfasten. Ex. to loose a knot. <DD> 4. to make less tight; relax; slacken. Ex. The coxswain loosed his grip upon the shrouds (Robert Louis Stevenson). <DD>v.i. 1. to become loose. <DD> 2. to shoot an arrow, shot from a gun, or other missile. <DD>adv. in a loose manner; loosely. Ex. Our manners set more loose upon us (Joseph Addison). <DD>noun give (a loose) to, to give freedom or full vent to. Ex. Give a loose to your fancy, indulge your imagination (Jane Austen). He would not give loose to passion (George Eliot). expr. in the loose, (British.) in open formation or play, as in Rugby. expr. let (or set, turn) loose. See let (1), set, and turn. expr. on the loose, (Informal.) <DD> a. without restraint; free. Ex. The puppy is out on the loose. <DD> b. on a spree. Ex. The visitors are on the loose in the town. adv. loosely. noun looseness. noun looser. </DL> <A NAME="loosebox"> loose-box, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) box stall. </DL> <A NAME="loosecannon"> loose cannon,<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a dangerous person or thing that is out of control. Ex. The judge had strong words of contempt for Abscam, calling it "a loose cannon rolling around the deck of the criminal justice system" (Tuscaloosa News). </DL> <A NAME="loosecoupler"> loose-coupler, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a coupler or transformer in which the primary and secondary coils are associated without close inductive relation. </DL> <A NAME="looseends"> loose ends,<DL COMPACT><DD> bits of unfinished business. Ex. She added that the loose ends left were disturbing and she thought the whole inquiry procedure unsatisfactory (London Times). expr. at loose ends, See under end (1). </DL> <A NAME="loosejointed"> loose-jointed, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. able to move very freely. Ex. a tall, shambling, loose-jointed man (Harriet Beecher Stowe). <DD> 2. having loose joints; loosely built. noun loose-jointedness. </DL> <A NAME="looseleaf"> loose-leaf, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having pages or sheets that can be taken out and replaced. Ex. a loose-leaf notebook. </DL> <A NAME="loosen"> loosen, transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to make loose or looser; untie; unfasten. Ex. The doctor loosened the stricken man's collar. (Figurative.) What liberty A loosened spirit brings (Emily Dickinson). <DD>v.i. to become loose or looser. Ex. The collar loosened around his neck. noun loosener. </DL> <A NAME="loosesentence"> loose sentence,<DL COMPACT><DD> a sentence which is grammatically complete and makes sense before its end. </DL> <A NAME="loosesmut"> loose smut,<DL COMPACT><DD> a disease of cereals, caused by a smut fungus, in which the heads change into loose masses of spores. </DL> <A NAME="loosestrife"> loosestrife, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. any plant of a group of herbs of the loosestrife family characterized by a cylindrical calyx tube and a capsule included within the calyx, such as the purple loosestrife. <DD> 2. any one of various erect or creeping herbs of the primrose family, such as a common species bearing clusters of yellow flowers, the moneywort. </DL> <A NAME="loosestrifefamily"> loosestrife family,<DL COMPACT><DD> a group of dicotyledonous herbs, shrubs, and trees most common in tropical America, and including some species often grown as ornamentals, such as the crape myrtle, henna, and purple loosestrife. </DL> <A NAME="loosetongued"> loose-tongued, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> talking too freely; blabbing. Ex. He knew how loose-tongued is calumny (Charles Reade). </DL> <A NAME="loot"> loot (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. things taken in plundering; spoils; booty. Ex. loot taken by soldiers from a captured town. <DD> 2. anything taken illegally, especially by force or with violence. Ex. burglar's loot. <DD> 3. (Slang.) money or other capital. Ex. That's a lot of loot to spend for a record player! <DD>v.t. 1. to plunder; rob. Ex. The burglar looted the jewelry store. (SYN) sack, rifle. <DD> 2. to carry off as loot. <DD>v.i. to take booty; pillage; plunder; rob. (SYN) sack, rifle. noun looter. </DL> <A NAME="loot"> loot (2), verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) past tense of let (1). </DL> <A NAME="lop"> lop (1), verb, lopped, lopping, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.t. 1. to cut off; cut. Ex. to lop the dead branches from a tree, to lop off the legs of a table. <DD> 2. to cut branches, twigs, or stems from; trim. <DD> 3. to remove parts as if by cutting. Ex. ... they had lopped off the sentimentality and fantasy which had surrounded the practical perceptions of the utopians (Edmund Wilson). <DD>noun 1. the smaller branches and twigs of trees. <DD> 2. a part or parts lopped off. </DL> <A NAME="lop"> lop (2), verb, lopped, lopping, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.i. 1. to hang loosely or limply; droop. Ex. The sleeping man's hand lopped over the arm of the chair. <DD> 2. to flop. Ex. She ... cried about it, she did, and lopped round, as if she'd lost every friend she had (Harriet Beecher Stowe). <DD>v.t. to let hang or droop. <DD>adj. hanging loosely; drooping. </DL> <A NAME="lope"> lope, verb, loped, loping, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.i., v.t. to run with a long, easy stride. Ex. The horse loped along the trail in an easy gallop. I loped my cayuse full tilt by Mr. Snake (Owen Wister). <DD>noun a long, easy stride. Ex. Now and then a Shawanee passed us, riding his little shaggy pony at a "lope" (Francis Parkman). noun loper. </DL> <A NAME="lopeared"> lop-eared, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having ears that hang loosely or droop. Ex. a lop-eared rabbit. </DL> <A NAME="lopearedcat"> lop-eared cat, =pendulous-eared cat.</DL> <A NAME="lophobranch"> lophobranch, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. of or belonging to an order of teleost marine fishes having tuftlike gills, including the sea horses and pipefishes. <DD>noun a lophobranch fish. </DL> <A NAME="lophobranchiate"> lophobranchiate, adjective, noun. =lophobranch.</DL> <A NAME="lophophore"> lophophore, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a structure having rows of ciliated tentacles, used to set up currents which carry tiny particles of food into the mouth, as in brachiopods, bryozoans, and certain other animals. </DL> <A NAME="lopolith"> lopolith, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a large intrusive mass of molten rock that has cooled and hardened, characterized by a basin-shaped upper and lower surface (contrasted with batholith). </DL> <A NAME="lopper"> lopper (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who lops (trees or plants). </DL> <A NAME="lopper"> lopper (2), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD>v.i., v.t. to curdle, as milk. <DD>noun 1. something curdled, such as milk or blood. <DD> 2. partly melted snow; slush. Also, lapper. </DL> <A NAME="loppy"> loppy, adjective, -pier, -piest.<DL COMPACT><DD> hanging loosely; drooping; limp. </DL> <A NAME="lopsided"> lopsided, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> larger or heavier on one side than the other; unevenly balanced; leaning to one side. Ex. a lopsided load, a lopsided score. (Figurative.) ... the lopsided economy of Malta, so largely dependent on the dockyard (London Times). adv. lopsidedly. noun lopsidedness. </DL> <A NAME="loq"> loq.,<DL COMPACT><DD> he, she, or it speaks (Latin, loquitur). </DL> <A NAME="loquacious"> loquacious, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. talking much; fond of talking. Ex. Jack became loquacious on his favourite topic (Frederick Marryat). <DD> 2. making sounds as of much talking. Ex. loquacious birds or frogs, loquacious water. adv. loquaciously. noun loquaciousness. </DL> <A HREF="loquacit.dic">NEXT</A>