losing


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Related to losing: Losing weight

los·ing

 (lo͞o′zĭng)
adj.
1. Failing to win, as in a sport or game: a losing team; a losing lottery ticket.
2. Of or relating to one that fails to win: a losing season; a losing battle.
n.
1. The act of one that loses; loss.
2. often losings Something lost, such as money at gambling.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

losing

(ˈluːzɪŋ)
adj
unprofitable; failing: the business was a losing concern.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

losing

  • idiot strings - Refers to the strings that attach mittens to prevent a child from losing one.
  • in hock - Can be traced to the card game faro, in which the last card in the box was called the hocketty card; when a player bet on a card that ended up in hock, he was at a disadvantage and was himself in hock and at risk of losing his bets.
  • jeopardy - Comes from French ieu parti, "(evenly) divided game" (from Latin jocus partitus, "divided game"), referring originally to chess, in which the chances of winning and losing are balanced.
  • pain - Originally meant punishment for a crime or offense—sometimes by losing one's head.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

losing

noun
The act or an instance of losing something:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

losing

[ˈluːzɪŋ]
A. ADJperdedor
the losing teamel equipo perdedor
to fight a losing battleluchar por una causa perdida
she was fighting a losing battle against her depressionluchaba en vano or sin éxito contra su depresión
to be on the losing sideestar en el lado de los perdedores or vencidos
to be on a losing streakestar pasando por una racha de mala suerte
to be on a losing wicket (fig) → llevar las de perder
B. N losings (= money) → pérdidas fpl
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

losing

adj the losing teamdie unterlegene Mannschaft; to fight a losing battleeinen aussichtslosen Kampf führen; the losing side/partydie Verliererseite; to be on the losing sideverlieren
n losingsVerluste pl
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

losing

[ˈluːzɪŋ] adjperdente
to fight a losing battle (fig) → combattere una battaglia perduta
on a losing streak → in un periodo nero
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Much depended on Rostov's winning or losing on that seven of hearts.
And thus it is as usual to assert the impossibility of losing what is already actually lost.
For instance, a gentleman may stake, say, five or ten louis d'or--seldom more, unless he is a very rich man, when he may stake, say, a thousand francs; but, he must do this simply for the love of the game itself--simply for sport, simply in order to observe the process of winning or of losing, and, above all things, as a man who remains quite uninterested in the possibility of his issuing a winner.
AFTER losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket.
It lasted about an hour and was terminated by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw.
One fought best in a losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance.
While interviewing Lina Abu Zinada, a supervisor at the Lost Children's Care Center at the holy sites, in the afternoon, a female pilgrim from Comoros was weeping over losing her ten-year-old child who had been reported lost since morning.
"Eight years into a government, Labour was losing 4,000 councillors, whereas we at the moment are holding councils and in some areas making positive inroads."
Wales' backroom team are adamant that won't be the case and that the rustiness was shaken off while losing to the Swedes on Sunday.