To lose means to no longer have something; to fail to win a contest or game; to be unable to find something; or to waste time or an opportunity. Irregular verb: lose – lost – lost.
What Does Lose Mean?
Lose descends from Old English losian ("to perish, be destroyed"), rooted in Proto-Germanic *leus- meaning "to cut apart" or "to separate". This ancient sense of separation still runs through every modern use of the word — whether you lose your keys (they are separated from you), lose a game (the victory is separated from you), or lose track of time (your awareness is separated from the present moment).
In contemporary English, lose appears in four main senses. The most common is the possessive sense: you once had something and now you do not (lose a job, lose weight, lose a friend). The competitive sense is equally widespread (lose a match, lose an election, lose the argument). The locative sense describes being unable to find something (lose your keys, lose your place in a book). Finally, the wasteful sense describes squandering a resource (lose time, lose an opportunity, lose momentum).
It is worth noting the spelling carefully: lose has a single o and rhymes with choose. Its near-homophone loose (adjective, rhyming with goose) is one of the most persistent spelling errors in English — see the Common Mistakes section below.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Level & usage note |
|---|---|
| I always lose my phone when I am in a hurry. | A2 — lose = unable to find |
| Our team did not want to lose the final match of the season. | B1 — lose = fail to win |
| She decided to lose weight before her sister's wedding. | B1 — lose + noun (physical reduction) |
| He tends to lose his temper when he is under a great deal of pressure at work. | B2 — lose your temper (fixed collocation) |
| It is easy to lose track of progress unless you keep a study journal. | C1 — lose track of (idiomatic; key phrase) |
Etymology
Old English losian ("to perish, be lost") ← Proto-Germanic *lus- / *leus- ("to cut, loosen, separate") ← Proto-Indo-European *leu- ("to cut apart"). Related forms: Old Norse losa ("to loosen"), Old High German virliosan ("to lose"), Dutch verliezen, German verlieren. The spelling settled around the 15th century; the related adjective loose retained the double oo, which is the source of the modern confusion.
Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| lose weight | She lost five kilograms in two months. |
| lose time | We lost valuable time waiting for approval. |
| lose track of | I lost track of how many words I had studied. |
| lose your temper | Try not to lose your temper during the interview. |
| lose your job | He was worried he might lose his job after the merger. |
| lose confidence | A few setbacks made her lose confidence in herself. |
| lose interest | Students quickly lose interest if lessons are too repetitive. |
| lose touch with | We lost touch with each other after moving to different cities. |
| lose your way | Without a clear goal, it is easy to lose your way. |
| lose a game / match | They lost three matches in a row at the start of the season. |
Usage Notes
How to Use Lose Correctly
Transitive verb: Lose almost always takes a direct object. You lose something — you do not simply "lose" without saying what. The only common intransitive use is in competition: "We lost" (the opponent is implied).
Irregular forms: Base: lose — Past simple: lost — Past participle: lost — Present participle: losing. Never say "I losed" or "I have losed".
Reflexive use: "Lose yourself in something" means to become completely absorbed: lose yourself in a novel, lose yourself in the music. "Get lost" (informal) can mean to become disoriented or, rudely, to go away.
Register: Lose is neutral and works in all registers — academic, professional, and informal. Its noun form loss is more common in formal writing: a significant financial loss rather than they lost a lot of money (though both are correct).
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
I always loose my glasses. (incorrect spelling — loose is an adjective)
I always lose my glasses. (lose = verb, one o)
They losed the game last night.
They lost the game last night. (irregular past: lost, not losed)
She is very loosing weight quickly.
She is losing weight quickly. (present participle: losing, not loosing)
He has losed confidence in himself.
He has lost confidence in himself. (past participle: lost)