Loss is the fact of no longer having something or having less of it than before.
...loss of sight. [+ of]
The loss of income for the government is about $250 million a month. [+ of]
...hair loss.
The job losses will reduce the total workforce to 7,000.
Synonyms: losing, waste, disappearance, deprivation More Synonyms of loss
2. variable noun
Loss of life occurs when people die.
...a terrible loss of human life. [+ of]
The allies suffered less than 20 casualties while enemy losses were said to be high.
3. uncountable noun
The loss of a relative or friend is their death.
They took the time to talk about the loss of Thomas and how their grief was affectingthem. [+ of]
...the loss of his mother. [+ of]
4. variable noun
If a business makes a loss, it earns less than it spends.
That year the company made a loss of nine hundred million pounds. [+ of]
The company stopped producing fertilizer because of continued losses.
...profit and loss.
5. uncountable noun
Loss is the feeling of sadness you experience when someone or something you like is taken away from you.
Talk to others about your feelings of loss and grief.
He always woke with a sense of deep sorrow and depressing loss.
6. countable noun [usually singular]
A loss is the disadvantage you suffer when a valuable and useful person or thing leaves or is taken away.
She said his death was a great loss to herself. [+ to]
Synonyms: damage, cost, injury, hurt More Synonyms of loss
7. uncountable noun
The loss of something such as heat, blood, or fluid is the gradual reduction of it or of its level in a system or in someone's body.
...blood loss.
...weight loss.
...a rapid loss of heat from the body. [+ of]
8.
See at a loss
9.
See be at a loss
10.
See cut your losses
11.
See a dead loss
More Synonyms of loss
loss in British English
(lɒs)
noun
1.
the act or an instance of losing
2.
the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing
a loss of reputation
3.
the person, thing, or amount lost
a large loss
4. (plural)
military personnel lost by death or capture
5. (sometimes plural)
the amount by which the costs of a business transaction or operation exceed its revenue
6.
a measure of the power lost in an electrical system expressed as the ratio of or difference between the input power and the output power
7. insurance
a.
an occurrence of something that has been insured against, thus giving rise to a claim by a policyholder
b.
the amount of the resulting claim
8. at a loss
Word origin
C14: noun probably formed from lost, past participle of losen to perish, from Old English lōsian to be destroyed, from los destruction
loss in American English
(lɔs; lɑs)
noun
1.
a losing or being lost
2.
an instance of this
3.
the damage, trouble, disadvantage, deprivation, etc. caused by losing something
4.
the person, thing, or amount lost
5.
any reduction, lessening, etc.
a loss of strength, power, etc.
6.
any reduction of heat energy, electrical energy, etc. in a system, esp. the reduction of power, voltage, or current in a circuit due to the resistance of the components
7. Insurance
a.
death, injury, damage, etc. that is the basis for a valid claim for indemnity under the terms of an insurance policy
b.
the amount paid by the insurer on this basis
8. Military
a.
the losing of military personnel in combat by death, injury, or capture
b. [pl.]
those lost in this way
c. [pl.]
ships, aircraft, etc. lost in battle
Idioms:
at a loss
Word origin
ME los < pp. of losen, lesen, to lose
loss in Insurance1
(lɔs)
Word forms: (plural) losses
noun
(Insurance: Commercial insurance)
A loss is a situation in which something happens that has been insured against, which causes a policyholder to make a claim.
Large firms often self-insure frequent, small losses such as damage to their fleet of vehicles or minor workplace injuries.
An insurable risk is a risk where the loss insured against is capable of being defined.
A loss is a situation in which something happens that has been insured against, which causesa policyholder to make a claim.
catastrophe excess of loss, consequential loss, estimated maximum loss, excess of loss reinsurance, first-loss policy, loss adjuster, loss ratio, probable maximum loss, risk excess of loss, stop loss reinsurance, total loss, total probable loss
loss in Insurance2
(lɔs)
Word forms: (plural) losses
noun
(Insurance: Commercial insurance)
A loss is the amount of the claim when something happens that has been insured against.
In this insurance clause, the policyholder pays for the deductible plus 20 percentof his covered losses.
After paying 80 percent of losses up to a specified ceiling, the insurer starts paying 100 percent.
A loss is the amount of the claim when something happens that has been insured against.
loss in Electrical Engineering
(lɔs)
noun
(Electrical engineering: Electrical power, Power consumption)
Loss in an electrical system is a measure of the power lost, which is expressed as theratio of or difference between the input power and the output power.
Transmitting energy at high voltages minimizes the loss due to conductor resistance.
While power can be dissipated in other resistors, there is no power loss in the battery because there is no resistance.
Loss in an electrical system is a measure of the power lost, which is expressed as theratio of or difference between the input power and the output power.
conductor loss, copper loss, core loss, dielectric loss
loss in Accounting
(lɔs)
Word forms: (plural) losses
noun
(Accounting: Financial statements, Income statement)
If a business reports a loss, it earns less money than it spends.
The company suffered a loss of $270 million.
The company expects to report a loss for its fiscal-fourth quarter ended June 30 compared with net income of $1.4 million,or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.
If a business reports a loss, it earns less money than it spends.
loss on sale, loss on translation, net loss, ordinary loss, tax loss
Talking about lossesIf a company makes losses, it incurs or accumulates them.When a company formally announces its losses, it posts, reports or records them.If a company offsets its losses, it uses something else to make them smaller.
More idioms containing
loss
at a loss
a dead loss
COBUILD Collocations
loss
announce a loss
annual loss
catastrophic loss
cause a loss
dramatic loss
experience a loss
fear a loss
financial loss
further loss
habitat loss
loss averse
massive loss
mean a loss
offset a loss against
pre-tax loss
quarterly loss
record a loss
report a loss
sad loss
sight loss
steep losses
sudden loss
suffer a loss
temporary loss
terrible loss
tragic loss
Examples of 'loss' in a sentence
loss
Her damages claim includes loss of earnings up to the normal retirement age.
The Sun (2016)
Instead the previously profitable businesses plunged into losses.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Remember that you can offset losses you make against any gains.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You deserve to be enveloped in a duvet of love and comfort for your great loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There is no evidence that either causes hair loss.
The Sun (2016)
What can be done in the face of such appalling loss of life and collapse of civilised standards?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Luxury cars often lose more but because they are so expensive, the actual percentage loss is less.
The Sun (2016)
Over three years those not on a Med diet were more likely to have a higher loss of total brain volume.
The Sun (2017)
Should I just cut my losses and take the risk of leaving?
The Sun (2016)
Those with the supplement showed less signs of bone loss plus less risk of heart disease.
The Sun (2015)
This will lead to gradual weight loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
They found dental cavities can be caused by mutations in a protein that also causes hair loss.
The Sun (2015)
This loss of power is not present at birth and must therefore be acquired at some point.
Whiteside, Dr Mike Banish Headaches -how to obtain fast, drug-free relief from headache (1990)
This is a senseless loss of life.
The Sun (2015)
The resulting lax lending practices can cause substantial losses to government agencies that provide the loan guarantees.
Mishkin, Frederic S. Financial Markets, Institutions and Money (1995)
The book became an international bestseller and transformed the company from loss into profit.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Grief and loss may be a different matter.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Note that thick curtains will cut heat loss and your heating bill.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Its losses due to deaths exceed its gains from membership transfer.
Greeley, Andrew M. Sociology and Religion: A Collection of Readings (1995)
They also seemed to experience less blood loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
That will leave them little option but to recoup losses through higher rents.
The Sun (2016)
He is a great loss to our game.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They like the culture they have and experience change as loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Another good thing about the loss of trust lies in its origins.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There was a huge amount of weight loss.
The Sun (2015)
Suitable for people with less profound hearing loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Cut your losses with projects that are not going to work and do things that make you feel comfortable.
The Sun (2015)
Instead he found himself in spiralling debt and began pinching money from his unsuspecting fiancée to try to make up losses.
The Sun (2013)
This could lead to hefty claims for consequential losses on top of the repayment offees and other costs as well as interest.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Equitable all but collapsed in 2000 and was forced to shut to new business following mammoth losses.
The Sun (2011)
The good news is that this healthy eating will result in weight loss in a person who has previously been eating too many ofthe unhealthy foods.
Shapiro, Jean Get the Best out of the Rest of Your Life (1990)
Quotations
One man's loss is another man's gain
In other languages
loss
British English: loss /lɒs/ NOUN
Loss is the fact of no longer having something or of having less of it than before.
...loss of sight.
American English: loss
Arabic: خَسَارَةٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: perda
Chinese: 损失
Croatian: gubitak
Czech: ztráta
Danish: tab
Dutch: verlies
European Spanish: pérdida
Finnish: menetys
French: perte
German: Verlust
Greek: απώλεια
Italian: perdita
Japanese: 喪失
Korean: 손실
Norwegian: tap
Polish: strata
European Portuguese: perda
Romanian: pierdere
Russian: потеря
Latin American Spanish: pérdida
Swedish: förlust
Thai: ความสูญเสีย
Turkish: kayıp
Ukrainian: втрата
Vietnamese: sự mất mát
Definition of 'loss'
Chinese translation of 'loss'
loss
(lɔs)
n(c/u)
丧(喪)失 (sàngshī) (种(種), zhǒng)
(= death) 失去 (shīqù)
loss of life丧(喪)生 (sàngshēng)
to make a loss[company]亏(虧)损(損) (kuīsǔn)
to sell sth at a loss亏(虧)本卖(賣)某物 (kuīběn mài mǒuwù)
to cut one's losses赶(趕)紧(緊)罢(罷)手以免更大损(損)失 (gǎnjǐn bàshǒu yǐmiǎn gèng dà sǔnshī)
to be at a loss (as to how/why etc ... )(对(對)如何/为(為)何等 ... )不知所措 ((duì rúhé/wèihé děng ... ) bù zhī suǒ cuò)