Loss

[laws, los] /lɔs, lɒs/

noun
1.
detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get:
to bear the loss of a robbery.
2.
something that is lost:
The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.
3.
an amount or number lost:
The loss of life increased each day.
4.
the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had:
the loss of old friends.
5.
death, or the fact of being dead:
to mourn the loss of a grandparent.
6.
the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.:
to discover the loss of a document.
7.
a losing by defeat; failure to win:
the loss of a bet.
8.
failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.
9.
failure to preserve or maintain:
loss of engine speed at high altitudes.
10.
destruction or ruin:
the loss of a ship by fire.
11.
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.
12.
Military.

13.
Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.
14.
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
15.
at a loss,

/lɒs/
noun
1.
the act or an instance of losing
2.
the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing: a loss of reputation
3.
the person, thing, or amount lost: a large loss
4.
(pl) military personnel lost by death or capture
5.
(sometimes pl) the amount by which the costs of a business transaction or operation exceed its revenue
6.
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
7.
(insurance)

8.
at a loss

n.

Old English los “loss, destruction,” from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (see lose). The modern word, however, probably evolved 14c. with a weaker sense, from lost, the original past participle of lose. Phrase at a loss (1590s) originally refers to hounds losing the scent. To cut (one’s) losses is from 1885, originally in finance.

jargon
Something (not a person) that loses; a situation in which something is losing. Emphatic forms include “moby loss”, and “total loss”, “complete loss”. Common interjections are “What a loss!” and “What a moby loss!” Note that “moby loss” is OK even though **”moby loser” is not used; applied to an abstract noun, moby is simply a magnifier, whereas when applied to a person it implies substance and has positive connotations.
Compare lossage.
(1995-04-19)
see: