Lose

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /luːz/

Definitions

1. To be unable to maintain possession of something, often leading to negative consequences
2. To suffer defeat in a contest or face unfavorable circumstances
3. To no longer have something because it has slipped away or been taken from you ; to fail to win or achieve victory in a contest or competition

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "lose" is its vowel. Its spelling and sound should, by regular English sound change, rhyme with "dose" or "close," as it did in earlier centuries, yet it now rhymes with "loose." The word descends from Old English "losian," meaning "to perish" or "to be destroyed," with the sense of getting lost or going to waste, which is a long way from simply no longer having something in your hands. The modern "/uː/" pronunciation is the result of confusion with "loose," a word with a close sound and spelling that pulled "lose" toward it. The older sense of "losian" is still visible in its relatives. Old English "los" meant "loss" or "destruction," and the same root gave the modern word "loss." The verb's sense of being deprived of something developed from that idea of ruin and waste, so to lose a thing came to mean that it was gone from you, perhaps through no fault of your own.

Synonyms: misplace, forfeit, fail, surrender, squander

Antonyms: gain, win, retain, hold, acquire