Less vs Lose - What's the difference?
less | lose |
To smaller extent.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= In lower degree.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
A smaller amount (of); not as much.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
* 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
* 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
Minus; not including
(obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
To cause (something) to cease to be in one's possession or capability due to unfortunate or unknown circumstances, events or reasons.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=April 15, author=Saj Chowdhury, work=BBC Sport
, title= To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
* Shakespeare
To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.
To fail to win (a game, competition, trial, etc).
* Dryden
To shed (weight).
To experience the death of (someone to whom one has an attachment, such as a relative or friend).
To be unable to follow or trace (somebody or something) any longer.
To cause (somebody) to be unable to follow or trace one any longer.
(informal) To shed, remove, discard, or eliminate.
Of a clock, to run slower than expected.
To cause (someone) the loss of something; to deprive of.
* Baxter
* 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, p. 556:
To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
(archaic) To cause to part with; to deprive of.
* Sir W. Temple
(obsolete) Fame, renown; praise.
* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.12:
As verbs the difference between less and lose
is that less is (obsolete) to make less; to lessen while lose is .As an adverb less
is to smaller extent.As an adjective less
is .As a preposition less
is minus; not including.As a conjunction less
is (obsolete) unless.less
English
Adverb
(-)Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
citation
Antonyms
* moreAdjective
- Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
William E. Conner
An Acoustic Arms Race, volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
- This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.
- No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
- Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.
Usage notes
Antonyms
* moreSee also
* fewerPreposition
(English prepositions)- It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.
Antonyms
* plusVerb
- (Gower)
Derived terms
* less is more * more or less * neverthelesslose
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) losen, from (etyl) .Verb
citation, passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost , by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest, passage=Forest, who lost striker Kris Boyd to injury seconds before half-time, produced little after the break, with a Tyson sliced shot from 12 yards their only opportunity of note.}}
- I lost my way in the forest.
- He hath lost his fellows.
- I fought the battle bravely which I lost , / And lost it but to Macedonians.
- O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory.
- This lost Catholicism any semblance of a claim to special status, and also highlighted the gains which other religious formations had derived from the Revolution.
- I lost a part of what he said.
- How should you go about to lose him a wife he loves with so much passion?
Usage notes
* Do not confuse lose with loose .Synonyms
* (sense, cause to cease to be in one's possession) leave behind, mislay * * drop, shed * * * ditch, drop, dump, get rid of, jettison * * (last)Antonyms
* (sense, cause to cease to be in one's possession) come across, discover, find, gain, acquire, procure, get, pick up, snag * win * gain, put on * * find * pick up * (fail to be the winner) come first, winDerived terms
* lose heart * lose it * lose one's cool * lose one's head * lose one's life * lose one's lunch * lose one's marbles * lose one's mind * lose one's patience * lose one's rag * lose one's temper * lose one's way * lose out * lose patience * lose time * no love lostEtymology 2
From (etyl) (los), (loos), from (etyl) .Noun
- That much he feared least reprochfull blame / With foule dishonour him mote blot therefore; / Besides the losse of so much loos and fame […].
