lose by

lose by

To fail to succeed (at some competitive activity) by a certain margin. A noun or pronoun can be used between "lose" and "by." I can't believe we lost by just two points—a single field goal and we would have won! He lost the student election by roughly 50 votes.See also: by, lose

lose by something

to be defeated by a certain amount. Our team lost by ten points. I only lost by a few points.See also: by, lose