loosen
English
Etymology
From loose + -en.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈluːsn̩/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
loosen (third-person singular simple present loosens, present participle loosening, simple past and past participle loosened)
- (transitive) To make loose.
- Synonyms: ease, relax, untighten
- to loosen a knot; to loosen one's grip / hold on something
- After the Thanksgiving meal, Bill loosened his belt.
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Naturall Historie, London: William Lee, Century 5, p. 111,
- […] after a yeares Rooting, then Shaking doth the Tree good, by Loosening of the Earth […]
- 1944 May and June, “The Why and the Wherefore: Locomotive Soot Blowers”, in Railway Magazine, page 194:
- In order to deal with deposits of soot on boiler-tubes while running, especially if poor coal is in use, locomotives are often now provided with blowers on the firebox back-plate which can be made to discharge a jet of high pressure steam towards the firebox tubeplates; this has the effect of loosening and blowing off the soot deposits.
- 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railways and the Devon floods”, in Trains Illustrated, page 709:
- [...] and on the Saturday heavy seas pounded the W.R. on its exposed coastal stretch between Dawlish and Teignmouth, loosening the ballast and forcing trains to proceed with extreme caution.
- 1992, Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient, London: Picador, 1993, Chapter 10, p. 265,
- His days at the villa had loosened his body and freed his tenseness […]
- (intransitive) To become loose.
- I noticed that my seatbelt had gradually loosened during the journey.
- 1630, Michael Drayton, “Noahs Floud” in The Muses Elizium Lately Discouered, London: John Waterson, p. 108,
- The subtile shower the earth hath softned so,
- And with the waues, the trees tost to and fro;
- That the rootes loosen, and the tops downe sway,
- So that whole Forrests quickly swimme away.
- 1764, Oliver Goldsmith, An History of England, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son, London: J. Newbery, Volume 2, Letter 19, p. 159,
- The sea scurvy is attended with an universal putrefaction, the teeth loosen, old wounds that had been healed again open […]
- 1940, Richard Wright, Native Son, London: Jonathan Cape, 1970, Book 3, p. 387,
- Max caught Bigger’s shoulders in a tight grip; then his fingers loosened and he sank back to the cot […]
- (transitive) To disengage (a device that restrains).
- Synonyms: undo, unfasten
- 1717, Joseph Addison (translator), Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books, translated by the most eminent hands, London: Jacob Tonson, Book 3, p. 99,
- At Liberty th’ unfetter’d Captive stands,
- And flings the loosen’d Shackles from his Hands.
- 1796, Matthew Gregory Lewis, The Monk, London: J. Bell, Volume 3, Chapter 10, p. 167,
- He easily comprehended, that the noise which he had heard was occasioned by his having loosened a chain which attached the image to its pedestal.
- 1994, J. M. Coetzee, The Master of Petersburg, New York: Viking, Chapter 6, p. 55,
- Her hair is drawn back under a heavy enamelled clasp. He loosens the clasp and lays it on the table.
- (intransitive) To become unfastened or undone.
- 1770, Henry Brooke, The Fool of Quality, Dublin: for the author, Volume 5, p. 52,
- Immediately my Shackles loosened and fell away of themselves […]
- 1770, Henry Brooke, The Fool of Quality, Dublin: for the author, Volume 5, p. 52,
- (transitive) To free from restraint; to set at liberty.
- Synonyms: liberate, release, set free
- 1695, John Dryden (translator), De Arte Graphica by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy, London: W. Rogers, p. 185,
- This is an admirable Rule; a Painter ought to have it perpetually present in his Mind and Memory. […] it loosens his hands, and assists his understanding.
- 1794, Ann Ward Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, London: G.G. and J. Robinson, Volume 1, Chapter 5, p. 145,
- […] Valancourt, willing to take a more extensive view of the enchanting country, into which they were about to descend, than he could do from a carriage, loosened his dogs, and once more bounded with them along the banks of the road.
- 1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Book 1, Chapter 8,
- I thought you had more sense than […] to suppose that because you have fallen into a very common trouble, such as most men have to go through, you are loosened from all bonds of duty […]
- 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, Book 2, Chapter 11,
- The recollection loosened a throng of benumbed sensations—longings, regrets, imaginings, the throbbing brood of the only spring her heart had ever known.
- (transitive) To relieve (the bowels) from constipation; to promote defecation.
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Naturall Historie, London: William Lee, Century 1, p. 14,
- […] Feare looseneth the Belly; because the Heat retiring inwards towards the Heart, the Gutts and other Parts are relaxed;
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: E. Dod, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 73,
- […] omitting the vehicle of water and honey, which is of a laxative power it selfe, the powder of some Loadstones in this dose doth rather constipate and binde, then purge and loosen the belly.
- 1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, Volume 1, Chapter 8, p. 222,
- When this Fruit [the guava] is eaten green it is binding, when ripe it is loosening.
- 1974, Richard Adams, Shardik, London: Oneworld, 2014, Chapter 36,
- Trying to control his breathing and the loosening of his bowels, he crouched still lower […]
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Naturall Historie, London: William Lee, Century 1, p. 14,
- (transitive, obsolete) To create a breach or rift between (two parties).
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
- I had rather lose the battle than that sister
Should loosen him and me.
-
- (intransitive, obsolete) To sail away (from the shore).
- Synonym: put out
- 1565, Arthur Golding (translator), The Eyght Bookes of Caius Iulius Cæsar conteyning his martiall exploytes in the realme of Gallia and the countries bording vppon the same, London: William Seres, Book 4,
- […] after the .iiii. day of oure arryuall in Britayne, the eightene shyps that we spake of before, which hadde the horsemen to conuey ouer, loosened from the further hauen with a soft wynd.
Antonyms
- tighten
Derived terms
- loosener
- loosen someone's tongue
- loosen the apron strings
- loosen the purse strings
- loosen up
- reloosen
Related terms
- loose
- unloosen
Translations
to make less tight
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to free from restraint; to set at liberty
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to remove costiveness
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See also
- lose
Anagrams
- no-lose