loss

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of losing someone or something

   Everyone expected the team to win so their loss was a shock.

2. 2
   noun

   the disadvantage that results from losing something

   Their loss of credibility led to their resignation.

3. 3
   noun

   the experience of losing a loved one

   I sympathized on the loss of their grandfather.

4. 4
   noun

   the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue

   the company operated at a loss last year

5. 5
   noun

   something that is lost

   the car was a total loss

6. 6
   noun

   gradual decline in amount or activity

   weight loss

7. 7
   noun

   The result of no longer possessing an object, a function, or a characteristic due to external causes or misplacement.

   loss of limb; weight loss; loss of cognitive functions; loss of appetite.

8. 8
   noun

   Something that has been destroyed or ruined.

   It was a terrible crash; both cars were total losses.

Etymology

From Middle English los, from Old English los (“damage, destruction, loss”), from Proto-West Germanic *los, from Proto-Germanic *lusą (“dissolution, break-up, loss”), from Proto-Indo-European *lews- (“to cut, sunder, separate, loose, lose”). Cognate with Icelandic los (“dissolution, looseness, break-up”), Old English lor, forlor (“loss, ruin”), Middle High German verlor (“loss, ruin”). More at lose.