Search the Dictionary

To play loosely; to move like a wave, one way and the other; to float; to flutter; to undulate. His purple robes waved careless to the winds. Trumbull. Where the flags of three nations has successively waved. Hawthorne.

The end of the week; specif., though loosely, the period observed commonly as a holiday, from Saturday noon or Friday night to Monday; as, to visit one for a week-end; also, a house party during a week-end.

To sew lightly; specifically, to form (a fabric) into gathers by loosely overcasting the rolled edge and drawing up the thread; as, to whip a ruffle. In half-whipped muslin needles useless lie. Gay.

he is first whistled off the fist, mounts aloft." Burton. (b) Hence, in general, to turn loose; to abandon; to dismiss. I 'ld whistle her off, and let her down the wind To prey at fortune. Shak.

A woman held in involuntary confinement for purposes of prostitution; loosely, any woman forced into unwilling prostitution.

A bundle of fibers, or a loosely twisted or braided cord, tape, or tube, usually made of soft spun cotton threads, which by capillary attraction draws up a steady supply of the oil in lamps, the melted tallow or wax in candles, or other material used for illumination, in small successive portions, to be burned. But tru…

the material of which wicks are made; esp., a loosely braided or twisted cord or tape of cotton.

A European species of loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris).

A thing desired; an object of desire. Will he, wise, let loose at once his ire . . . To give his enemies their wish! Milton.

Specifically, a loose outer garment; an article of dress intended to be wrapped round the person; as, a morning wrapper; a gentleman's wrapper.

t be wrestled over. In the Cornwall and Devon wrestling, the wrestlers complete in strong loose linen jackets, catching hold of the jacket, or anywhere above the waist. Two shoulders and one hip, or two hips and one shoulder, must touch the ground to constitute a fall, and if a man is thrown otherwise than on his back…

A chasm, mouth, or passageway. [R.] Now gape the graves, and trough their yawns let loose Imprisoned spirits. Marston.

h smalt, from which, however, it is distinct, as it contains no potash. The name is often loosely applied to mixtures of zaffer proper with silica, or oxides of iron, manganese, etc. [Written also zaffre, and formerly zaffree, zaffar, zaffir.]

A cured olive which has spoiled or is on the verge of decomposition; loosely, an olive defective because of bruises, wormholes, or the like.

A girdle; a cincture. [Poetic] An embroidered zone surrounds her waist. Dryden. Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound. Collins.

a zone; ungirded. The reeling goddess with the zoneless waist. Cowper. In careless folds, loose fell her zoneless vest. Mason.