lose
part of speech
verb (lose, loses, lost, losing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To lose is to no longer have something, often by mistake: lose a glove. tree →
2) To lose a game is to not win it. tree →
3) To lose your way is to not know where you are. tree →
4) To lose weight, time or money is to have less of it. tree →
sense in the lessons
things that are gone («had 9 pencils and lost 5» = subtract); in sport losing a match; in safety what to do if you get lost (stay where you are, find a safe adult); in everyday life «lose your temper», «lose track of time»
examples
- Lily had 9 pencils and lost 5. How many pencils does Lily have now? tree →
- Tom loses 3 of his 10 marbles. tree →
- Ben had 15 cards and lost 4. tree →
- I lost my tooth today! tree →
- Our team lost the game 2 to 3. tree →
- If you get lost, stay where you are and ask a police officer. tree →
- Don't lose your library card. tree →
- Trees lose their leaves in autumn. tree →
- Much wants more and loses all. tree →
note
Losing makes you have less: subtract. Trap: «how many did he lose» asks for the part lost: start minus what is left. Past «lost». Do not mix «lose» (one o, say «looz») with «loose» (two o's, not tight).
In the corpora
- Some people go to work ill because they can't afford to lose the pay, which spreads germs to everyone else.
- Lending money to friends can cause arguments, so many grown-ups only lend what they could afford to lose.
- An older person who finds a new partner after losing a husband or wife has not forgotten the one who died.
- A homeless person has nowhere safe to live, often because of losing a job, a family breaking up or illness.
- Refusing to admit you are lost or wrong is pride; too much pride makes it hard to ask for help or say sorry.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «lose» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.