loose

(lés), a.and ». [ lause, a var. (due to the verb, or to the influence of D. loos, ete.) of lees, les, loose I have shewn in a former Paper with how much Care T have avoided all such ‘Thoughts as are loose, obscene, or immoral. Add is on, Spectator, No. 262. Their subjects run from the most solemn mysteries of religion to the loosest frolics of common life. Ticknor, Span, Lit., IT, 206. 9+. Disengaged; free; independent: with from or of. Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato’s thoughts? Add is on, Cato, Their prevailing principle is to sit as loose from pleasures, and be as moderate in the use of them, as they can. Atterbury. 10}. Seemingly communicative; frank; open; candid. Your thoughts close and your countenance loose will go safely over the world. Leigh (Arber’s Eng. Garner, I. 648). A loose fish. See jish1,n.—At loose ends. See end.— Fast and loose. See fastl.— Loose color, a color that is not permanent; a fugitive color; specifically, in dyeing, a color which will not resist the various destructive agents, as light, air, soap, dilute acids and alkalis, to which it may be naturally subjected.—Loose herding. See herding. —Loose in the haftt. See haftl.—Loose pulley, sentence, etc. See the nouns.— To break loose, cut loose, let loose, etc. See the verbs.—To shake a loose leg. See leg. II. n. 1+, Freedom from restraint; license. [Still used in a common phrase. See fo give a loose, below. ] He [Pegasus] runs with an unbounded Joose, Prior, Carmen Seculare for 1700, xvi. 2. The act of letting go or letting fly; discharge; shot. In throwing a dart or javelin we force back our arms, to make our loose the stronger. B. Jonson. Surely the poet gives a twang to the loose of his arrow, making him [Robin Hood] shoot one a cloth-yard long at full forty-score mark. Fuller, Worthies, II. 569 (Proverbs). Merely to straighten the fingers and let the string go free will give a clumsy, sluggish Joose. M. and W. Thompson, Archery, p. 20. 3+. A solution of a problem or explanation of a difficulty. You shall see them find out pretty Jooses in the conclusion, but are no ways able to examine or debate matters. Bacon, Cunning (ed. 1887). 4. The privilege of turning out cattle on commons. [North. Eng.]—To give a loose, or to give ioose, to give free vent; give a loose rein. Several of the French, Italian, and English Poets have gwen a loose to their Imaginations in the Description of Angels. Add is on, Spectator, No. 327. Our Manners were formed from our different Fortunes, not our different Age. Wealth gave a Loose to your Youth, and Poverty put a Restraint upon mine. Steele, Conscious Lovers, i. 1.