LOOSEN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Loosen

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/lˈusən/ Listen

verb

Loosen v. t. (past & past part. loosened; pres. part. loosening)

To make loose; to free from tightness, tension, firmness, or fixedness; to make less dense or compact; as, to loosen a string, or a knot; to loosen a rock in the earth. "After a year's rooting, then shaking doth the tree good by loosening of the earth."

To free from restraint; to set at liberty.. "It loosens his hands, and assists his understanding."

To remove costiveness from; to facilitate or increase the alvine discharges of.

Loosen v. i. To become loose; to become less tight, firm, or compact.

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Etymology of 'Loosen'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Loosen" Quotes from Famous Books

... money in th' wurruld. But th' day comes whin he sees people around him gettin' a good dale iv injyemint out iv gin'rosity an' somewan says: 'Why don't ye, too, be gin-rous? Come, ol' green goods, unbelt, loosen up, be gin-rous.' 'Gin'rous?' says he, 'what's that?' 'It's th' best spoort in th' wurruld. It's givin' things to people.' 'But I can't,' he says. 'I haven't annything to do it with,' he says. 'I don't know th' game. I haven't anny gin'rosity,' he says. 'But ye have,' says ...

— Observations by Mr. Dooley • Finley Peter Dunne

... were not unduly fortified, but for all that, the two which Mrs. Poundstone had assimilated contained just sufficient "kick" to loosen the lady's tongue without thickening it. Consequently, about the time the piece de resistance made its appearance, she threw caution to the winds and adverted to the ...

— The Valley of the Giants • Peter B. Kyne

... nucleus which her husband was supposed to have brought home from India, obtained no one knows how, the Countess had amassed one of the largest fortunes possessed by any dowager in the peerage. She had it, and she held it, with a grasp that nothing but death could loosen; nay, that all-foreseeing mind of hers might contrive to cheat grim death itself, and to scheme a way for protecting this wealth, even when she who had gathered and garnered it should be mouldering in her grave. The entailed estates belonged ...

— Phantom Fortune, A Novel • M. E. Braddon

... constitute our population. Partiality of any kind tends to destroy the elemental ties which bind us together, to disrupt our Union, and to make us a house divided against itself. James M. Beck's article in last Sunday's TIMES is of the kind which, serving no good purpose, helps to loosen, if not sever, our most vital domestic ties. While not for an instant doubting Mr. Beck's sincerity, we must take issue with his inadvertently ...

— The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915 - What Americans Say to Europe • Various

... raffia is much improved by washing; therefore, before using it loosen it and soak it in clean water so that all dust and dirt may be removed and the strips or strings straightened out; then hang it in the air ...

— Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools • Virginia McGaw

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