loser

«loser» in Mova's school dictionary: A person or team that loses a game, race or competition — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a loser, losers)

meaning for a pupil

1) A person or team that loses a game, race or competition. tree →

2) (rude slang) A person thought to be unsuccessful or not cool — an unkind insult. tree →

3) Someone who reacts in a certain way when they lose: «a good loser», «a bad loser». tree →

sense in the lessons

In sports and games, every match has winners and losers; being a «good loser» means shaking hands and saying «well played», not sulking. In friendship lessons, calling someone a loser is name-calling and hurtful. Phrases: «good loser», «bad/sore loser», «the loser pays».

examples

• The loser of the race shook hands with the winner. tree →
• Be a good loser and congratulate the other team. tree →
• Don't be a sore loser — it's only a game. tree →
• Calling someone a loser is mean. tree →
• Both teams played well; there were no real losers. tree →
• The loser of the coin toss had to go first. tree →
• He's a bad loser and always says the game was unfair. tree →
• In this game, the loser is the one with the most cards left. tree →

note

Countable. Spelling trap: «loser» (one o, said LOO-zer, from «lose») — not «looser» (more loose, from «loose»). Verb: lose, lost; noun: loss.

In the corpora

• A good winner says good game, and a good loser congratulates the winner.
• People who cheat or are bad losers often find that others stop wanting to play with them.
• Everyone loses sometimes, and good losers are people others want to play with.
• Being a bad loser or a cheat makes others stop wanting to play with you.
• «Finders keepers, losers weepers» is a playground rhyme, not a rule.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «loser» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.