Part 6645

<blockquote>Good conscience and good <b>loos</b>. <i>Chaucer.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Loose</h1> <Xpage=868>

<hw>Loose</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Looser</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Loosest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>loos</ets>, <ets>lous</ets>, <ets>laus</ets>, Icel. <ets>lauss</ets>; akin to OD. <ets>loos</ets>, D. los, AS. <ets>le\'a0s</ets> false, deceitful, G. <ets>los</ets>, loose, Dan. & Sw. <ets>l\'94s</ets>, Goth. <ets>laus</ets>, and E. <ets>lose</ets>. <?/ See <er>Lose</er>, and cf. <er>Leasing</er> falsehood.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; <as>as, the <ex>loose</ex> sheets of a book</as>.</def>

<blockquote>Her hair, nor <b>loose</b>, nor tied in formal plat. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc. ; -- with <i>from or of</i>.</def>

<blockquote>Now I stand <b>Loose</b> of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? <i>Addison.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Not tight or close; <as>as, a <ex>loose</ex> garment</as>.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; <as>as, a cloth of <ex>loose</ex> texture</as>.</def>

<blockquote>With horse and chariots ranked in <b>loose</b> array. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; <as>as, a <ex>loose</ex> style, or way of reasoning</as>.</def>

<blockquote>The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a <b>loose</b> analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. <i>Whewel.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right.</def>

<blockquote>The <b>loose</b> morality which he had learned. <i>Sir W. Scott.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>7.</b> <def>Unconnected; rambling.</def>

<blockquote>Vario spends whole mornings in running over <b>loose</b> and unconnected pages. <i>I. Watts.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>8.</b> <def>Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.</def>

<i>Locke.</i>

<p><b>9.</b> <def>Dissolute; unchaste; <as>as, a <ex>loose</ex> man or woman</as>.</def>

<blockquote><b>Loose</b> ladies in delight. <i>Spenser.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>10.</b> <def>Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; <as>as, a <ex>loose</ex> epistle</as>.</def>

<i> Dryden.</i>

<cs><col>At loose ends</col>, <cd>not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.</cd> -- <col>Fast and loose</col>. <cd>See under <er>Fast</er>.</cd> -- <col>To break loose</col>. <cd>See under <er>Break</er>.</cd> -- <col>Loose pulley</col>. <fld>(Mach.)</fld> <cd>See <cref>Fast and loose pulleys</cref>, under <er>Fast</er>.</cd> -- <col>To let loose</col>, <cd>to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.</cd></cs>

<h1>Loose</h1> <Xpage=868>

<hw>Loose</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Freedom from restraint.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Prior.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A letting go; discharge.</def>

<i>B. Jonson.</i>

<cs><col>To give a loose</col>, <cd>to give freedom.</cd></cs>