loss

/lɔs/

/lɒs/

If you no longer have something, you experience a loss, like the loss of a favorite sock. When something lessens, or gets smaller, that's also a loss, as in weight loss.

Loss has lots of opposites that help define what it means. It is the opposite of win, gain, found, or earn. You can take a loss in a game or a race or by misplacing or just plain losing something like a cell phone or money. When a business has more expenses than it can cover in sales, that, too, is called a loss. A difficult loss is when a friend, relative, or pet dies.

Definitions of loss

1. noun

   the act of losing someone or something
   “everyone expected him to win so his loss was a shock”

   types:

   default

   loss due to not showing up

   capitulation, fall, surrender

   the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions)

   type of:

   failure

   an act that fails
2. noun

   the experience of losing a loved one
   “he sympathized on the loss of their grandfather”

   type of:

   experience

   an event as apprehended
3. noun

   euphemistic expressions for death
   synonyms: departure, exit, expiration, going, passing, release

   type of:

   death, decease, demise, expiry

   the event of dying or departure from life
4. noun

   something that is lost
   “the car was a total loss”

   “loss of livestock left the rancher bankrupt”

   types:

   forfeit, forfeiture

   something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty

   financial loss

   loss of money or decrease in financial value

   sacrifice

   a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less than its value

   wastage

   anything lost by wear or waste

   default, nonpayment, nonremittal

   loss resulting from failure of a debt to be paid

   capital loss

   the amount by which the purchase price of an asset exceeds the selling price; the loss is realized when the asset is sold

   depreciation, wear and tear

   decrease in value of an asset due to obsolescence or use

   losings, losses

   something lost (especially money lost at gambling)

   type of:

   transferred possession, transferred property

   a possession whose ownership changes or lapses
5. noun

   military personnel lost by death or capture
   synonyms: personnel casualty

   types:

   combat injury, injury, wound

   a casualty to military personnel resulting from combat

   sacrifice

   personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in order to gain an objective)

   blighty wound

   a wound that would cause an English soldier to be sent home from service abroad

   flesh wound

   a wound that does not damage important internal organs or shatter any bones

   type of:

   casualty

   a decrease of military personnel or equipment
6. noun

   gradual decline in amount or activity
   “weight loss”

   “a serious loss of business”

   types:

   epilation

   loss of hair; the result of removing hair

   reducing

   loss of excess weight (as by dieting); becoming slimmer

   psilosis

   falling out of hair

   type of:

   decline, diminution

   change toward something smaller or lower
7. noun

   the disadvantage that results from losing something
   “his loss of credibility led to his resignation”

   synonyms: deprivation

   type of:

   disadvantage

   the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position
8. noun

   the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue
   “the company operated at a loss last year”

   synonyms: red, red ink

   antonyms:

   gain

   the amount by which the revenue of a business exceeds its cost of operating

   types:

   paper loss

   an unrealized loss on an investment calculated by subtracting the current market price from the investor's cost

   squeeze

   a situation in which increased costs cannot be passed on to the customer

   type of:

   amount, amount of money, sum, sum of money

   a quantity of money