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A loose garment to be worn over other garments; an enveloping robe; a cloak. Hence, figuratively, a covering or concealing envelope. [The] children are clothed with mantles of satin. Bacon. The green mantle of the standing pool. Shak. Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming tree. Burns.

A woman filling the place, but without the rights, of a wife; a concubine; a loose woman with whom one consorts habitually. Spectator.

he compass of moral actions, which have in them vice or virtue. Hooker. Mankind is broken loose from moral bands. Dryden. She had wandered without rule or guidance in a moral wilderness. Hawthorne.

the Cretaceous rocks, especially in America. They were serpentlike in form and in having loosely articulated and dilatable jaws, with large recurved tteth, but they had paddlelike feet. Some of them were over fifty feet long. They are, essentially, fossil sea serpents with paddles. Called also Pythonomarpha, and Mosas…

fly; -- so called because it captures and feeds upon mosquitoes. -- Mosquito netting, a loosely-woven gauzelike fabric for making mosquito bars.

A woman's glove with a long, loosely fitting wrist.

A loose woman; a prostitute. [Obs.] Mutton bird (Zoöl.), the Australian short-tailed petrel (Nectris brevicaudus). -- Mutton chop, a rib of mutton for broiling, with the end of the bone at the smaller part chopped off. -- Mutton fish (Zoöl.), the American eelpout. See Eelpout. -- Mutton fist, a big brawny fist or ha…

Hence, loosely: Offensive; disagreeable; unpropitious; wet; drizzling; as, a nasty rain, day, sky.

Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling; as, a version near to the original.

good; as, a nice party; a nice excursion; a nice person; a nice day; a nice sauce, etc. [Loosely & Colloquially] To make nice of, to be scrupulous about. [Obs.] Shak.

Lying loose in pulp or cotton within a berry or pericarp, as in a nest.

A loose gown used for undress; also, a gown used for a sleeping garnment.

the radical NO, called also the nitroso group. The term is sometimes loosely used to designate certain nitro compounds; as, nitrosyl sulphuric acid. Used also adjectively.

A kind of loose-fitting plaited jacket, having a loose belt.

The material obtained by untwisting and picking into loose fiber old hemp ropes; -- used for calking the seams of ships, stopping leaks, etc.

To loosen or make less compact; as, to open matted cotton by separating the fibers. To open one's mouth, to speak. -- To open up, to lay open; to discover; to disclose. Poetry that had opened up so many delightful views into the character and condition of our "bold peasantry, their country's pride." Prof. Wilson.…

n umbelliferous plant (the Opoponax Chironum), brought from Turkey and the East Indies in loose granules, or sometimes in larger masses, of a reddish yellow color, with specks of white. It has a strong smell and acrid taste, and was formerly used in medicine as an emmenagogue and antispasmodic. Dunglison.…

Loosely: A band of instrumental musicians performing in a theater, concert hall, or other place of public amusement.

A chiton, or loose, ungirded tunic, falling in straight folds.

A Turkish official; one of the dominant tribe of Turks; loosely, any Turk.