LOSS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does loss mean? 

• LOSS (noun)
  The noun LOSS has 8 senses:

1. something that is lost

2. gradual decline in amount or activity

3. the act of losing someone or something

4. the disadvantage that results from losing something

5. the experience of losing a loved one

6. the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue

7. military personnel lost by death or capture

8. euphemistic expressions for death

  Familiarity information: LOSS used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOSS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is lost

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

loss of livestock left the rancher bankrupt

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

transferred possession; transferred property (a possession whose ownership changes or lapses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loss"):

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Gradual decline in amount or activity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Context example:

a serious loss of business

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

decline; diminution (change toward something smaller or lower)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loss"):

epilation (loss of hair; the result of removing hair)

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

Derivation:

lossy (characterized by or causing dissipation of energy)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of losing someone or something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

everyone expected him to win so his loss was a shock

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

failure (an act that fails)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loss"):

default (loss due to not showing up)

capitulation; fall; surrender (the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The disadvantage that results from losing something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

deprivation; loss

Context example:

losing him is no great deprivation

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

disadvantage (the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The experience of losing a loved one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

he sympathized on the loss of their grandfather

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

experience (an event as apprehended)

Sense 6

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

loss; red; red ink

Context example:

the company operated in the red last year

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

amount; amount of money; sum; sum of money (a quantity of money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loss"):

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)

Antonym:

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

Sense 7

Meaning:

Military personnel lost by death or capture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

loss; personnel casualty

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

casualty (a decrease of military personnel or equipment)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loss"):

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))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Euphemistic expressions for death

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

departure; exit; expiration; going; loss; passing; release

Context example:

thousands mourned his passing

Hypernyms ("loss" is a kind of...):

death; decease; expiry (the event of dying or departure from life)

Domain usage:

euphemism (an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh)

 Context examples 

What loss, besides mortar and marble and wood-work had followed upon it?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I believe I may have heard some whisper of that distant thought, in the old unhappy loss or want of something never to be realized, of which I had been sensible.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mrs. Rushworth, who saw nothing but her son, was quite at a loss.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

People who achieved weight loss of 10% or more within the first five years after diagnosis were more than twice as likely to go into remission compared to people who maintained the same weight.

(Type 2 diabetes remission possible with ‘achievable’ weight loss, University of Cambridge)

"It's hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses."

(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)

My husband’s anguish at the loss of his paper went to my heart.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

All that were good would be withdrawn; and if to these losses, the loss of Donwell were to be added, what would remain of cheerful or of rational society within their reach?

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

‘I must see that paper, Musgrave,’ said I, ‘which this butler of yours thought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of the loss of his place.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, confusion, loss of consciousness, and other health problems.

(Acetone, NCI Dictionary)

After a bit I began to grow anxious, for the loss of blood was telling on Arthur, strong man as he was.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)