Home Grammar Usage "Loose" Or "Lose"?

"Loose" Or "Lose"?

Loose and lose are two completely distinct words, with different meanings and pronunciations. Below is a quick reference table outlining the differences between lose and loose:

 Lose
Loose
pronunciation
rhymes with booze
rhymes with goose
verb
✓
✓
verb forms
lose; losing; lost
loose; loosing; loosed
main verb meaning
to be unable to find or keep something
to release something
adjective
✗
✓
adjective forms
-
looser; loosest
Noun*
✗
✓

 

*Note: the Oxford English Dictionary does have entries for ‘lose’ as a noun (one meaning ‘an instance of losing’, the other ‘praise; renown’), but neither is listed in our dictionaries of current English. 


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