loose : Idioms & Phrases

Index

A screw loose

  • something out of order, so that work is not done smoothly; as, there is a screw loose somewhere. H. Martineau.
Webster 1913

At loose ends

  • not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.
Webster 1913

break loose

  • verb be unleashed; emerge with violence or noise
    explode; burst forth.
    • His anger exploded
  • verb run away from confinement
    get away; escape.
    • The convicted murderer escaped from a high security prison
WordNet

Fast and loose

  • now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another "Play fast and loose with faith." Shak.
Webster 1913

Fast and loose pulleys

  • (Mach.), two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and reëngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.
Webster 1913

let loose

  • verb express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words)
    utter; emit; let out.
    • She let out a big heavy sigh
    • He uttered strange sounds that nobody could understand
  • verb turn loose or free from restraint
    loose; unleash.
    • let loose mines
    • Loose terrible plagues upon humanity
WordNet

loose cannon

  • noun a person who is expected to perform a particular task but who is out of control and dangerous
WordNet

loose end

  • noun work that is left incomplete
    unfinished business.
WordNet

loose off

  • verb fire as from a gun
    let fly; let drive.
    • The soldiers let drive their bullets
WordNet

Loose pulley

  • . (Mach.) See Fast and loose pulleys, under Fast.
Webster 1913

loose sentence

  • noun a complex sentence in which the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows
WordNet

loose smut

  • noun disease of grains; the entire head is a dusty mass of spores
  • noun a smut fungus of the genus Ustilago causing a smut disease of grains in which the entire head is transformed into a dusty mass of spores
WordNet

loose woman

  • noun a woman adulterer
    strumpet; adulteress; jade; slut; hussy; trollop; fornicatress.
WordNet

loose-fitting

  • adjective satellite not fitting closely; hanging loosely
    sloppy; baggy.
    • baggy trousers
    • a loose-fitting blouse is comfortable in hot weather
WordNet

loose-jointed

  • adjective satellite loosely articulated or constructed
    • a loose-jointed paragraph
WordNet

loose-jowled

  • adjective satellite having sagging folds of flesh beneath the chin or lower jaw
    jowly; double-chinned.
WordNet

loose-leaf lettuce

  • noun lettuce with loosely curled leaves that do not form a compact head
    leaf lettuce.
WordNet

on the loose

  • adjective satellite having escaped, especially from confinement
    escaped; at large; loose.
    • a convict still at large
    • searching for two escaped prisoners
    • dogs loose on the streets
    • criminals on the loose in the neighborhood
WordNet

screw-loose

  • adjective satellite not behaving normally
    screwy.
WordNet

To break loose

  • . (a) To extricate one's self forcibly. "Who would not, finding way, break loose from hell?" Milton. (b) To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety.
Webster 1913

To get loose ∨ free

  • to disengage one's self; to be released from confinement.
Webster 1913

To give a loose

  • to give freedom.
Webster 1913

To let loose

  • to remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large.
  • to free from restraint or confinement; to set at liberty.
Webster 1913

To loose sails

  • (Naut.), to unfurl or spread sails.
Webster 1913