loosenv.

Brit.

/ˈluːsn/, U.S.

/ˈlus(ə)n/

Forms: Middle English losne, lousen, loosne, 1500s loozen, 1600s losen, 1800s dialect lowsen, Middle English, 1600s– loosen.

Etymology: < loose adj. + -en suffix⁵. Old Norse had losna intransitive, to become loose, from the weak grade of the root.

To make loose or looser.

a. transitive. To set free or release from bonds or physical restraint. Obsolete exc. poetic (rare) and dialect.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > from confinement

unbindc950

to let freec1000

aletOE

to let out1154

loosea1225

slakec1374

loosen1382

to let goc1384

releasec1384

unloosec1400

unlockc1410

dissolvec1420

relievec1450

unloosen?a1475

to set at liberty1509

enlargea1513

to let at large1525

to let loose1530

to turn loose?1566

enfranchise1569

to turn up1573

enfranch1581

unkennel1589

unwind1596

to cast loosec1600

disimmure1611

disimprison1611

unhamper1620

to let abroad1633

unfold1633

disencloister1652

disencage1654

discagea1657

disincarcerate1665

eliminate1745

unspherea1806

unmew1818

unbottle1821

uncage1837

unbag1854

bust1921

1382 J. Wyclif Psalms cxlv. 7 The Lord losneth the gyuede.

1382 J. Wyclif Psalms ci. 21 That he shulde..loosen the sones of the slayne.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 766/2 I unbynde, I losen, je deslie.

1804 R. Couper Poetry Sc. Lang. I. 88 The oussen, lousen'd frae the plough, Spread oure the grassy plain.

1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid ii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 116 Lifting his hands now loosened from chains.

b. transferred and figurative. Now only in the phrase to loosen (a person's) tongue, and in certain poetical or rhetorical uses (? after Shelley).

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > free from restraint

ungyve1531

unlock1531

unbuckle1548

unpen1561

unmanacle1582

unmuzzlec1585

unseal1589

dischain1603

unshackle1611

to let out1613

uncage1620

unfreeze1637

loosen1645

unconfine1651

unsequester1664

unbay1687

uncurb1729

unbind1735

unleash1822

disenchain1853

society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > free from restraint > the lips, tongue, or heart

unspen?c1225

loosec1390

unseala1586

loosen1645

unslip1802

unloosen1845

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 36 And therfore doth in this Law, what best agrees with his goodnes, loosning a sacred thing to peace and charity, rather then binding it to hatred and contention.

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 53 And this their limiting that which God loosen'd, and their loosning the sinnes that he limited.

1695 J. Dryden tr. R. de Piles in tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica 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.

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 107 Thou breathe into the many-folded shell, Loosening its mighty music.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlvii. 70 But [Sorrow] rather loosens from the lip Short swallow-flights of song.

1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right I. xliv. 345 By degrees her tongue was loosened.

1893 E. H. Barker Wanderings by S. Waters 222 The fragrance of the valley was loosened.

1895 I. Zangwill Master i. x. 110 The action seemed to loosen his tongue.

2. To undo, unfasten (bonds, a knot, or the like). Now usually: To render looser or less tight, to relax, slacken.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)]

unbindc950

undoc950

unleeseOE

breaka1225

unfest?c1225

leesea1325

loosena1382

unloosea1382

loose1388

resolvea1398

unlace?c1400

unfastenc1440

unloosen?a1475

to let slip1526

unbrace?1526

diffibulatea1538

unframe1567

unclit1587

undight1590

unclip1598

unclenchc1600

unreeve1600

unlock1609

ungrapple1611

unquilt1611

abstringe1623

renode1623

unspan1648

unfast1684

disengage1780

undub1807

unclap1846

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xx. 2 Go, and loosne the sac fro thi leendis.

1611 Bible (King James) Judith ix. 2 Who loosened the girdle of a maide to defile her.

1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 384 The Grooms..walk the Horses, then they cloath them and loosen their Girts.

1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London III. i. 54 The manacles were loosened from my hands.

1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 96 She..Loosens her fragrant boddice.

1884 Law Times 3 May 1/2 A Government not accustomed to loosen their purse strings.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 258 On loosening the ligatures the rabbit often gave a sudden jump forward.

1902 A. E. W. Mason Four Feathers xv. 141 That access of panic which had loosened his joints when first he saw the low brown walls of the town.

figurative.1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 367 Neptune's bonds of stone from Dardan city to loosen.

a. To weaken the adhesion or attachment of; to unfix, detach.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > loosen or weaken the attachment of

unfastena1250

unlacec1330

loosec1400

solvec1450

unsettle1598

unfix1600

uncement1639

discardinate1648

loosen1667

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 643 From thir foundations loosning to and fro They pluckt the seated Hills.

1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 232 The manner of loosning all the other inward Spheres is as the Former.

1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 232 Loosen it out of the Wax.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 72/2 The water..routs up the bottom, and..carries away every thing that it can loosen.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 326 A wall which time and weather had so loosened that it shook in every storm.

1879 N. Smyth Old Faiths in New Light (1882) ii. 45 The ivy creeping up the wall of the church does not loosen its ancient stones.

1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 28 Loosen the image from my hat.

†b. figurative. To detach in affection, make a breach between. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxii. 21 I had rather loose the battaile, then that sister should loosen him and mee.

c. slang. to loosen (a person's) hide: to flog.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > beat

threshOE

beatc1000

to lay on?c1225

chastise1362

rapa1400

dressc1405

lack?c1475

paya1500

currya1529

coil1530

cuff1530

baste1533

thwack1533

lick1535

firka1566

trounce1568

fight1570

course1585

bumfeage1589

feague1589

lamback1589

lambskin1589

tickle1592

thrash1593

lam1595

bumfeagle1598

comb1600

fer1600

linge1600

taw1600

tew1600

thrum1604

feeze1612

verberate1614

fly-flap1620

tabor1624

lambaste1637

feak1652

flog1676

to tan (a person's) hide1679

slipper1682

liquora1689

curry-comb1708

whack1721

rump1735

screenge1787

whale1790

lather1797

tat1819

tease1819

larrup1823

warm1824

haze1825

to put (a person) through a course of sprouts1839

flake1841

swish1856

hide1875

triangle1879

to give (a person or thing) gyp1887

soak1892

to loosen (a person's) hide1902

1902 Daily Chron. 11 Apr. 9/2 He thought the only way to make them decent members of society was ‘to loosen their hides’.

d. intransitive for reflexive or passive. To become loose.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > be loosened, unfastened, or undone [verb (intransitive)] > become loosely attached

start1526

loosen1678

1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 46 The square on the Spindle will be apt to loosen in the square of the Wheel.

1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. x. 178 These Puppets stand the firmer, and are less subject to loosen.

1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 231 The Cube or Dy will loosen.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. ix. 140 They have a kind of Tree, which at Forty Years old loosens in the Root.

1899 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. X. 157 A whitlow formed, and the nail loosened and was shed in fragments.

1901 W. M. Ramsay in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 390 His old ideas had been slowly loosening and dissolving.

4. transitive. To make less coherent; to separate the particles of.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > make less dense [verb (transitive)] > loosen texture

relaxa1398

relaxate1598

loosen1697

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make less coherent

disgregate1603

melt1615

loosen1697

disaggregate1811

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 85 With Iron Teeth of Rakes..to move The crusted Earth, and loosen it above.

1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 62 Manures plowed in, loosen and divide the soil.

1832 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. (ed. 2) 585 The workman then with his spade loosens..the texture of the..soil.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 202 He struck the snow with his baton to loosen it.

figurative.a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 510 Society was loosened and seemed to be resolving itself into its elements.

a. To relax, relieve the costiveness of, cause a free evacuation of (the bowels).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > purge

purge1340

loosec1400

physicc1400

scour1489

lask1540

loosen1587

vacuate1651

unload1653

clear1719

1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. viii. 95 Esculapius..was esteemed as a God for teaching..to loozen the Belly.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §41 Feare looseneth the Belly.

1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. v. i. 352 Also use..lenient Purgatives, to loosen the body.

1761 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 181 To loosen the belly; to promote perspiration, urine, and the uterine purgations.

1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 846 The bowels [must] be loosened with some gentle aperient.

b. To render (a cough) ‘looser’.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > promote expectoration

to fetch up1599

loosen1833

1833 J. Forbes et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. I. 316/1 To loosen the cough..small doses of ipecacuanha or tartarized antimony are often most effectual.

1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 39 To mature, that is to loosen the [bronchial] catarrh.

6. To relax in point of severity or strictness.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of strictness > lessen in strictness or severity [verb (transitive)]

tolerate1579

slacken1605

relax1612

loosen1803

1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) i. ii. 13 The restraints to population are..loosened.

1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 568 Even the Inquisition was..made to loosen its hold over its victims.

1872 G. B. Cheever Lect. Pilgrim's Progress v. 152 The strictness of his imprisonment had been loosened.

1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle vii. 119 Mr. Bird seemed to take a special pleasure in our society, and while loosening his claim on us as pupils, to hold us as associates and friends more closely.

1899 T. S. Baldock Cromwell 291 The men neither straggled nor loosened their discipline.

7. absol. with up.

a. To give money willingly, to talk freely, etc. U.S. colloquial.

ΚΠ

1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl xi. 125 Loosen-up... You've got to donate for a couple of tickets to the annual benefit.

1911 G. Stratton-Porter Harvester xx. 516 You're tight-mouthed... Loosen up!

1922 C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 6 Come across, kick in, loosen up. Where do you get that chatter?

1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean xi. 187 Somebody will have to loosen up to pay for the damage to my nervous system.

1927 Ladies' Home Jrnl. 114 That is the first time he has ever loosened up.

1949 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite i. 8 You will generally find women loosen up less lavishly than men.

b. In Sport or Dance, to exercise the muscles before concentrated physical effort, to limber up. Also loosening-up n. and adj.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > giving > give [verb (intransitive)] > give money willingly

loosen1955

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [verb (transitive)] > limber up

loosen1955

1955 M. Gilbert Sky High xii. 165 The General came to a stop in the middle of his loosening-up exercises.

1956 A. R. Alston Test Comm. xvi. 139 Lindwall was given a couple of loosening-up overs.

1973 M. Russell Double Hit viii. 55 Make it an hour. I'll be twenty minutes loosening up... I'm after the exercise.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	loosen
释义	loosenv. Brit. /ˈluːsn/, U.S. /ˈlus(ə)n/ Forms: Middle English losne, lousen, loosne, 1500s loozen, 1600s losen, 1800s dialect lowsen, Middle English, 1600s– loosen. Etymology: < loose adj. + -en suffix⁵. Old Norse had losna intransitive, to become loose, from the weak grade of the root. To make loose or looser. 1. a. transitive. To set free or release from bonds or physical restraint. Obsolete exc. poetic (rare) and dialect. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > from confinement unbindc950 to let freec1000 aletOE to let out1154 loosea1225 slakec1374 loosen1382 to let goc1384 releasec1384 unloosec1400 unlockc1410 dissolvec1420 relievec1450 unloosen?a1475 to set at liberty1509 enlargea1513 to let at large1525 to let loose1530 to turn loose?1566 enfranchise1569 to turn up1573 enfranch1581 unkennel1589 unwind1596 to cast loosec1600 disimmure1611 disimprison1611 unhamper1620 to let abroad1633 unfold1633 disencloister1652 disencage1654 discagea1657 disincarcerate1665 eliminate1745 unspherea1806 unmew1818 unbottle1821 uncage1837 unbag1854 bust1921 1382 J. Wyclif Psalms cxlv. 7 The Lord losneth the gyuede. 1382 J. Wyclif Psalms ci. 21 That he shulde..loosen the sones of the slayne. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 766/2 I unbynde, I losen, je deslie. 1804 R. Couper Poetry Sc. Lang. I. 88 The oussen, lousen'd frae the plough, Spread oure the grassy plain. 1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid ii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 116 Lifting his hands now loosened from chains. b. transferred and figurative. Now only in the phrase to loosen (a person's) tongue, and in certain poetical or rhetorical uses (? after Shelley). ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > free from restraint ungyve1531 unlock1531 unbuckle1548 unpen1561 unmanacle1582 unmuzzlec1585 unseal1589 dischain1603 unshackle1611 to let out1613 uncage1620 unfreeze1637 loosen1645 unconfine1651 unsequester1664 unbay1687 uncurb1729 unbind1735 unleash1822 disenchain1853 society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > free from restraint > the lips, tongue, or heart unspen?c1225 loosec1390 unseala1586 loosen1645 unslip1802 unloosen1845 1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 36 And therfore doth in this Law, what best agrees with his goodnes, loosning a sacred thing to peace and charity, rather then binding it to hatred and contention. 1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 53 And this their limiting that which God loosen'd, and their loosning the sinnes that he limited. 1695 J. Dryden tr. R. de Piles in tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica 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. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 107 Thou breathe into the many-folded shell, Loosening its mighty music. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlvii. 70 But [Sorrow] rather loosens from the lip Short swallow-flights of song. View more context for this quotation 1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right I. xliv. 345 By degrees her tongue was loosened. 1893 E. H. Barker Wanderings by S. Waters 222 The fragrance of the valley was loosened. 1895 I. Zangwill Master i. x. 110 The action seemed to loosen his tongue. 2. To undo, unfasten (bonds, a knot, or the like). Now usually: To render looser or less tight, to relax, slacken. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] unbindc950 undoc950 unleeseOE breaka1225 unfest?c1225 leesea1325 loosena1382 unloosea1382 loose1388 resolvea1398 unlace?c1400 unfastenc1440 unloosen?a1475 to let slip1526 unbrace?1526 diffibulatea1538 unframe1567 unclit1587 undight1590 unclip1598 unclenchc1600 unreeve1600 unlock1609 ungrapple1611 unquilt1611 abstringe1623 renode1623 unspan1648 unfast1684 disengage1780 undub1807 unclap1846 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xx. 2 Go, and loosne the sac fro thi leendis. 1611 Bible (King James) Judith ix. 2 Who loosened the girdle of a maide to defile her. View more context for this quotation 1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 384 The Grooms..walk the Horses, then they cloath them and loosen their Girts. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London III. i. 54 The manacles were loosened from my hands. 1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 96 She..Loosens her fragrant boddice. 1884 Law Times 3 May 1/2 A Government not accustomed to loosen their purse strings. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 258 On loosening the ligatures the rabbit often gave a sudden jump forward. 1902 A. E. W. Mason Four Feathers xv. 141 That access of panic which had loosened his joints when first he saw the low brown walls of the town. figurative.1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 367 Neptune's bonds of stone from Dardan city to loosen. 3. a. To weaken the adhesion or attachment of; to unfix, detach. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > loosen or weaken the attachment of unfastena1250 unlacec1330 loosec1400 solvec1450 unsettle1598 unfix1600 uncement1639 discardinate1648 loosen1667 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 643 From thir foundations loosning to and fro They pluckt the seated Hills. View more context for this quotation 1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 232 The manner of loosning all the other inward Spheres is as the Former. 1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 232 Loosen it out of the Wax. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 72/2 The water..routs up the bottom, and..carries away every thing that it can loosen. 1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 326 A wall which time and weather had so loosened that it shook in every storm. 1879 N. Smyth Old Faiths in New Light (1882) ii. 45 The ivy creeping up the wall of the church does not loosen its ancient stones. 1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 28 Loosen the image from my hat. †b. figurative. To detach in affection, make a breach between. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxii. 21 I had rather loose the battaile, then that sister should loosen him and mee. View more context for this quotation c. slang. to loosen (a person's) hide: to flog. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > beat threshOE beatc1000 to lay on?c1225 chastise1362 rapa1400 dressc1405 lack?c1475 paya1500 currya1529 coil1530 cuff1530 baste1533 thwack1533 lick1535 firka1566 trounce1568 fight1570 course1585 bumfeage1589 feague1589 lamback1589 lambskin1589 tickle1592 thrash1593 lam1595 bumfeagle1598 comb1600 fer1600 linge1600 taw1600 tew1600 thrum1604 feeze1612 verberate1614 fly-flap1620 tabor1624 lambaste1637 feak1652 flog1676 to tan (a person's) hide1679 slipper1682 liquora1689 curry-comb1708 whack1721 rump1735 screenge1787 whale1790 lather1797 tat1819 tease1819 larrup1823 warm1824 haze1825 to put (a person) through a course of sprouts1839 flake1841 swish1856 hide1875 triangle1879 to give (a person or thing) gyp1887 soak1892 to loosen (a person's) hide1902 1902 Daily Chron. 11 Apr. 9/2 He thought the only way to make them decent members of society was ‘to loosen their hides’. d. intransitive for reflexive or passive. To become loose. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > be loosened, unfastened, or undone [verb (intransitive)] > become loosely attached start1526 loosen1678 1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 46 The square on the Spindle will be apt to loosen in the square of the Wheel. 1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. x. 178 These Puppets stand the firmer, and are less subject to loosen. 1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiii. 231 The Cube or Dy will loosen. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. ix. 140 They have a kind of Tree, which at Forty Years old loosens in the Root. 1899 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. X. 157 A whitlow formed, and the nail loosened and was shed in fragments. 1901 W. M. Ramsay in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 390 His old ideas had been slowly loosening and dissolving. 4. transitive. To make less coherent; to separate the particles of. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > make less dense [verb (transitive)] > loosen texture relaxa1398 relaxate1598 loosen1697 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make less coherent disgregate1603 melt1615 loosen1697 disaggregate1811 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 85 With Iron Teeth of Rakes..to move The crusted Earth, and loosen it above. View more context for this quotation 1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 62 Manures plowed in, loosen and divide the soil. 1832 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. (ed. 2) 585 The workman then with his spade loosens..the texture of the..soil. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 202 He struck the snow with his baton to loosen it. figurative.a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 510 Society was loosened and seemed to be resolving itself into its elements. 5. a. To relax, relieve the costiveness of, cause a free evacuation of (the bowels). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > purge purge1340 loosec1400 physicc1400 scour1489 lask1540 loosen1587 vacuate1651 unload1653 clear1719 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. viii. 95 Esculapius..was esteemed as a God for teaching..to loozen the Belly. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §41 Feare looseneth the Belly. 1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. v. i. 352 Also use..lenient Purgatives, to loosen the body. 1761 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 181 To loosen the belly; to promote perspiration, urine, and the uterine purgations. 1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 846 The bowels [must] be loosened with some gentle aperient. b. To render (a cough) ‘looser’. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > promote expectoration to fetch up1599 loosen1833 1833 J. Forbes et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. I. 316/1 To loosen the cough..small doses of ipecacuanha or tartarized antimony are often most effectual. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 39 To mature, that is to loosen the [bronchial] catarrh. 6. To relax in point of severity or strictness. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of strictness > lessen in strictness or severity [verb (transitive)] tolerate1579 slacken1605 relax1612 loosen1803 1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) i. ii. 13 The restraints to population are..loosened. 1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 568 Even the Inquisition was..made to loosen its hold over its victims. 1872 G. B. Cheever Lect. Pilgrim's Progress v. 152 The strictness of his imprisonment had been loosened. 1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle vii. 119 Mr. Bird seemed to take a special pleasure in our society, and while loosening his claim on us as pupils, to hold us as associates and friends more closely. 1899 T. S. Baldock Cromwell 291 The men neither straggled nor loosened their discipline. 7. absol. with up. a. To give money willingly, to talk freely, etc. U.S. colloquial. ΚΠ 1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl xi. 125 Loosen-up... You've got to donate for a couple of tickets to the annual benefit. 1911 G. Stratton-Porter Harvester xx. 516 You're tight-mouthed... Loosen up! 1922 C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 6 Come across, kick in, loosen up. Where do you get that chatter? 1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean xi. 187 Somebody will have to loosen up to pay for the damage to my nervous system. 1927 Ladies' Home Jrnl. 114 That is the first time he has ever loosened up. 1949 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite i. 8 You will generally find women loosen up less lavishly than men. b. In Sport or Dance, to exercise the muscles before concentrated physical effort, to limber up. Also loosening-up n. and adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > giving > give [verb (intransitive)] > give money willingly loosen1955 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > gymnastics > exercise > [verb (transitive)] > limber up loosen1955 1955 M. Gilbert Sky High xii. 165 The General came to a stop in the middle of his loosening-up exercises. 1956 A. R. Alston Test Comm. xvi. 139 Lindwall was given a couple of loosening-up overs. 1973 M. Russell Double Hit viii. 55 Make it an hour. I'll be twenty minutes loosening up... I'm after the exercise. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < v.a1382
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