What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Wander vs Lose - What's the difference?

wander | lose |

As verbs the difference between wander and lose

is that wander is (lb) to move without purpose or specified destination; often in search of livelihood while lose is .

As a noun wander

is the act or instance of wandering.

wander

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (lb) To move without purpose or specified destination; often in search of livelihood.
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) xi.37:
  • *:They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins.
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
  • *
  • *:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.
  • (lb) To stray; stray from one's course; err.
  • :
  • *(Bible), (Psalms) cxix.10:
  • *:O, let me not wander from thy commandments.
  • (lb) To commit adultery.
  • (lb) To go somewhere indirectly or at varying speeds; to move in a curved path.
  • (lb) Of the mind, to lose focus or clarity of argument or attention.
  • Conjugation

    (en-conj-simple)

    Synonyms

    * (move without purpose) err, roam * (commit adultery) cheat * (go somewhere indirectly) * (lose focus) drift

    Derived terms

    * wander off * wanderer * wanderlust

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act or instance of wandering.
  • To go for a wander

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    lose

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) losen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • 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 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.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=April 15, author=Saj Chowdhury, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= 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.}}
  • To wander from; to miss, so as not to be able to find; to go astray from.
  • I lost my way in the forest.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He hath lost his fellows.
  • To have (an organ) removed from one's body, especially by accident.
  • To fail to win (a game, competition, trial, etc).
  • * Dryden
  • I fought the battle bravely which I lost , / And lost it but to Macedonians.
  • 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
  • O false heart! thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal flames, and lost me this glory.
  • * 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, p. 556:
  • 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.
  • To fail to catch with the mind or senses; to miss.
  • I lost a part of what he said.
  • (archaic) To cause to part with; to deprive of.
  • * Sir W. Temple
  • 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, win
    Derived 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 lost

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (los), (loos), from (etyl) .

    Noun

  • (obsolete) Fame, renown; praise.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.12:
  • That much he feared least reprochfull blame / With foule dishonour him mote blot therefore; / Besides the losse of so much loos and fame […].