a. [ Compar. Looser superl. Loosest. ] [ OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS. leás false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. lös, Goth. laus, and E. lose. √127. See Lose, and cf. Leasing falsehood. ] 1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; -- with from or of. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now I stand
Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ? Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. [ 1913 Webster ]

With horse and chariots ranked in loose array. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

The comparison employed . . . must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation. Whewel. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. [ 1913 Webster ]

The loose morality which he had learned. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Unconnected; rambling. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Loose ladies in delight. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

At loose ends, not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed. --
Fast and loose. See under Fast. --
To break loose. See under Break. --
Loose pulley. (Mach.) See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast. --
To let loose, to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Freedom from restraint. [ Obs. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A letting go; discharge. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

To give a loose, to give freedom. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. n. [ imp. & p. p. Loosed p. pr. & vb. n. Loosing. ] [ From Loose, a. ] 1. To untie or unbind; to free from any fastening; to remove the shackles or fastenings of; to set free; to relieve. [ 1913 Webster ]

Canst thou . . . loose the bands of Orion ? Job. xxxviii. 31. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me. Matt. xxi. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To release from anything obligatory or burdensome; to disengage; hence, to absolve; to remit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife. 1 Cor. vii. 27. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matt. xvi. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To relax; to loosen; to make less strict. [ 1913 Webster ]

The joints of his loins were loosed. Dan. v. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To solve; to interpret. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To set sail. [ Obs. ] Acts xiii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. large enough to leave space for movement over the skin; not tight-fitting; -- of clothing. Opposite of close-fitting, tight, and tight-fitting.
Syn. -- loose. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

adj. having sagging folds of flesh beneath the chin or lower jaw.
Syn. -- double-chinned, jowly. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. having rings that open and close permitting insertion and removal of pages; -- of notebooks and binders and the paper used in them; as, a looseleaf notebook; looseleaf paper.
Syn. -- loose-leaf. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A type of notebook with hard covers attached to metal rings which open, allowing sheets of writing paper to be conveniently inserted into it and removed from it. [ PJC ]

n. Sheets of writing paper having holes at the edge permitting insertion into and removal from a looseleaf binder. [ PJC ]

adv. In a loose manner. [ 1913 Webster ]