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A textile fabric used for decorative purposes, especially when hung loosely and in folds carefully disturbed; as: (a) Garments or vestments of this character worn upon the body, or shown in the representations of the human figure in art. (b) Hangings of a room or hall, or about a bed. Like one that wraps the drapery of…

A collection of loose earth and rocks, or boulders, which have been distributed over large portions of the earth's surface, especially in latitudes north of forty degrees, by the agency of ice.

ute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures. Hooker.

Fagots, boughs, or loose materials of any kind, laid on the bottom of the hold for the cargo to rest upon to prevent injury by water, or stowed among casks and other cargo to prevent their motion.

soil favorable to the growth of plants; the visible surface of the globe; the ground; as, loose earth; rich earth. Give him a little earth for charity. Shak.

A work sculptured in relief, as a cameo, or in bas-relief (in this sense used loosely).

Spreading loosely, especially on one side; as, an effuse inflorescence. Loudon.

small wrenlike Australian bird (Stipiturus malachurus), having the tail feathers long and loosely barbed, like emu feathers.

s noted by two observers. It is usually only a fraction of a second; -- sometimes applied loosely to differences of judgment or method occasioned by temperamental qualities of individuals. -- Theory of equations (Math.), the branch of algebra that treats of the properties of a single algebraic equation of any degree c…

Act by which one breaks loose from the rules of propriety or good sense; a freak; a prank. Carlyle.

cavating pump, a kind of dredging apparatus for excavating under water, in which silt and loose material mixed with water are drawn up by a pump. Knight.

To loose; to pay. [Obs.]

iting, the manner of an intimate friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. "In loose, familiar strains." Addison. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Shak.

The layer of loose tissue, often containing fat, immediately beneath the skin; the stronger layer of connective tissue covering and investing all muscles; an aponeurosis.

Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door. There is an order that keeps things fast. Burke.

tion from moisture. As prepared it is a compressed cylinder of the explosive, filled with loose powder of the same composition, all inclosed in waterproof wrappers. It is used for mining.

hide; a fell; a pelt. [Obs.] To know whether sheep are sound or not, see that the felt be loose. Mortimer.

o veer; as, to fetch about; to fetch to windward. Totten. To fetch away (Naut.), to break loose; to roll slide to leeward. -- To fetch and carry, to serve obsequiously, like a trained spaniel.

A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the water.

Yielding to the touch, and easily moved or shaken; hanging loose by its own weight; wanting firmness; flaccid; as, flabby flesh.