How to Use loose in a Sentence

loose

1 of 3 adjective
  • The rope was tied in a loose knot.
  • The nails had been pried loose.
  • Some of the shingles on the roof were loose.
  • The ball popped loose from the shortstop's glove.
  • Some of the shingles had come loose.
  • The dog was wandering loose in the streets.
  • She was wearing a loose dress.
  • The boat came loose from its moorings and floated out into the harbor.
  • Maybe a horse got loose from the ranch across the street?
    Ryan Lillis, Sacramento Bee, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Scrape down the bowl and fold the dough over to form a loose sphere.
    Yewande Komolafe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2024
  • The top was strapless and the pants low-rise and loose.
    Rosa Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Aug. 2023
  • This one hits right above the knee and has a loose fit.
    Cameron Jenkins, Good Housekeeping, 30 July 2023
  • Credit goes to Story and the cast for the loose tone of the film.
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 14 June 2023
  • The now-$12 rayon top has a scoop neckline and a loose fit.
    Rachel Simon, Peoplemag, 11 June 2023
  • Allen wasn’t getting enough help and was too loose with the ball.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Jan. 2024
  • On the second or third pitch, the rope got caught on a loose rock about the size of a bowling ball.
    Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2023
  • Her hair was styled down in loose waves on a center part.
    Alyssa Bailey, ELLE, 17 July 2023
  • Her hair fell from the ponytail in loose waves to her upper back.
    Gabi Thorne, Allure, 17 Oct. 2023
  • With one hand on the buoy line and the other in the air, Nicholas set the swimmers loose for a 9.5-mile swim to a dam on the far side of the lake.
    Adam Skolnick, New York Times, 10 May 2023
  • It can be worn in an array of ways like a loose button-down dress.
    Essence, 9 Apr. 2024
  • Was very freeing to play loose, wing it, and see what happened.
    Daniel Kohn, Spin, 1 Sep. 2023
  • Keep your arms straight and loose, allowing the power from your hips to drive the weight up.
    Brett Williams, Men's Health, 22 June 2023
  • The fit was perfect — not too snug nor too loose, with plenty of wiggle room for the toes.
    Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 8 June 2023
  • Her hair cascaded in loose glossy waves from the base of her ponytail.
    Gabi Thorne, Allure, 25 Sep. 2023
  • The moment your car gets loose [in Indy cars] there is going to be a crash.
    John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2024
  • Step 2: Form a series of loose coils with the throw line from the slip knot on your wrist toward the net, then grip the coils with your left hand.
    Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The flowy white layered look was paired with soft makeup and the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star wore her hair down in loose waves.
    Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
  • But his defense, although loose, held up and made plays.
    Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2023
  • The fit is supportive, but looser in the armpit area on some bodies.
    Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Bsn, Parents, 19 Oct. 2023
  • When the new system was set loose to play its own games, the team observed a lot of variety.
    Stephen Ornes, WIRED, 18 Feb. 2024
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loose

2 of 3 verb
  • The soldiers loosed a volley of rifle fire.
  • Break loose the lug nuts and jack up the car just enough for the wheel to rotate.
    Mark Maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 Aug. 2017
  • The two hundred miles an hour wind had loosed its chains.
    Jake Cline, Sun-Sentinel.com, 6 Sep. 2017
  • The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.
    Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 9 Aug. 2017
  • The collapse of Qaddafi’s regime loosed a wave of anarchy.
    Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Viewers know what such forces look like when they are loosed upon the world.
    M.s., The Economist, 27 Aug. 2019
  • Ursula was not about to loose a naive teenager on the streets.
    oregonlive, 5 Oct. 2019
  • Specifically, let loose a stream of urine on the rear right wheel of the transfer bus on your way to the launch.
    Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 12 Apr. 2011
  • Don’t treat your cacti with a trickle, turn on the taps and let loose a deluge.
    Molly Marquand, Good Housekeeping, 9 Feb. 2017
  • There is also an arrow loosed into the chest of one's beloved.
    Chelsea Peng, Marie Claire, 28 July 2015
  • In the meantime don’t risk loosing out and get your book at BnN Amazon, or mattroloffmedia.com.
    Michelle Manetti, Good Housekeeping, 29 May 2018
  • The nine planes flew in formation above the River Thames and let loose their red, white and blue smoke to mark the colors of the Union Jack.
    Fox News, 9 May 2020
  • Swanson let loose a booming kick that sent Covey back eight yards to the 23.
    Josh Newman, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Oct. 2020
  • Some African-Americans in Avondale and other parts of the city loosed their rage.
    Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Speed Retrieve is a drag race: An owner must loose the dog at just the right moment.
    Christopher Solomon, Outside Online, 18 June 2018
  • As dawn pinks the sky, the tom shakes himself awake and looses the first of a series of branch-rattling gobbles.
    Shannon Tompkins, Houston Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2018
  • After a pause, the group let loose a flurry of questions: Had the roommate been tested?
    Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 2 Apr. 2020
  • To extract the spider, one poured water that loosed the web and the spider was extracted along with the web.
    Shelby Grad, latimes.com, 21 June 2018
  • Over the last few days, DeSantis has loosed a barrage of attacks on Trump.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 5 June 2023
  • In the park, Ms. Figueroa let loose the fun-loving side that prompted her Berkeley wedding crash.
    New York Times, 8 Feb. 2020
  • Salah touched the ball out of his feet and let loose a vicious half-volley, which nestled straight in the bottom right corner.
    SI.com, 5 Nov. 2017
  • The inland hills that rise more than 3,000 ft. above the heart of Puerto Rico were drawing moisture out of the storm, which loosed torrents of rain.
    Karl Vick / San Juan, Time, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Most evergreens lose their previous year’s needles in the fall but some loose them in the spring and summer.
    oregonlive, 2 May 2021
  • But can one — should one — be able to so readily dismiss the other versions of the self that get loosed on the world, with all their toxins?
    Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2017
  • In front of me was a black ovoid stone, known as the omphalos, set on the spot in Greek mythology where two eagles loosed by Zeus crossed paths at the earth’s nexus.
    Liz Alderman, New York Times, 9 July 2019
  • LaVine picked up the ball, sprinted behind the 3-point line on the right wing and let loose the winning shot with less than a second remaining.
    chicagotribune.com, 23 Nov. 2019
  • Maybe a week-long look in the mirror could jostle loose some new sense of hope heading into the season’s second half.
    Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2021
  • The pass hit a defender's foot, and Griffin let loose an expletive.
    Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 1 Feb. 2018
  • The tree began loosing its needles, slimming down to a skeleton.
    Amanda Erickson, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2017
  • The Knights made an inbound pass in the frontcourt to Fletcher Tynen, who let loose an off-balance three-point shot while fading away from top of the key.
    Eric Sondheimer, latimes.com, 25 Jan. 2018
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loose

3 of 3 adverb
  • And then the big doors at the end opened up, and 30, 40 dogs were set loose.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2023
  • On the other side of the bracket, all hell broke loose in the Sweet 16 round.
    Rasputin Todd, The Enquirer, 13 Mar. 2022
  • Judge led off the first with a single as the Yankees broke loose from the start.
    Larry Fleisher, ajc, 10 Sep. 2022
  • And then, all of a sudden, all of the threads rip loose, and the net gets cast down to nothing.
    Michael Granberry, Dallas News, 23 June 2023
  • All hell breaks loose after that and the Heat turn the game around, take it to overtime, and win.
    Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 20 May 2022
  • The pop star wore her hair blown out loose with finger waves along the top of her head.
    Quinci Legardye, Harper's BAZAAR, 3 May 2022
  • So that made Tuesday the perfect stage for Brown to let loose.
    Bill Oram, oregonlive, 27 Dec. 2022
  • On the last try, one of the straw shingles came loose, causing Duncan to fall off the shed.
    Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Before Greiger could get in, the tractor broke loose and crushed him.
    Dallas News, 16 Dec. 2022
  • As a child, CityFair was always a fun place to let loose.
    oregonlive, 1 Mar. 2022
  • Bret got the collar loose, her husband opened up the crawl space, and the dog came running out.
    Kelsey Mulvey, House Beautiful, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Then came Rich Strike thundering along the rail and all heck broke loose.
    Beth Harris, ajc, 8 May 2022
  • In July, 11 hikers were killed when a chunk of ice broke loose from a glacier in Italy.
    Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Aug. 2022
  • If ever there was a time to let loose with a four-letter word, this was it.
    Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
  • Beyond the rule changes, the league seems more willing to let players cut loose.
    Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2023
  • Each foot was adorned in a loose-fitting 1970s-style clog sandal.
    Scott Johnson, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Jan. 2023
  • Handling the ball 15 yards from the net, Beacham, who’s right-handed, let loose with a left-handed shot.
    Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2022
  • Lewis introduced her as his 13-year-old wife, and all hell broke loose.
    Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2022
  • But in much of the Western world, tastes moved away from loose-fitting menswear in the 18th century, Friend said.
    CNN, 25 Aug. 2022
  • The short, loose-fitting sleeve style softly drapes over the shoulders and flares outwards.
    Alex Warner, PEOPLE.com, 28 June 2022
  • In one of the early matches that night, a fighter’s headgear came loose.
    Zoë Bernard, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2023
  • Just as Stephen is clearing the air with Christine, all hell breaks loose outside.
    Jacob Siegal, BGR, 3 May 2022
  • Marcus loosens his grip and before the ex can slip his head loose, Connie spits in his face.
    Hazlitt, 29 Mar. 2023
  • All this talk about a vote that’s comin’ to end slavery—all of those niggers runnin’ loose?
    Anna Deavere Smith, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2023
  • The police raided the spot at three thirty a.m., and when the club patrons spilled out onto the street, all hell broke loose.
    Free Press Staff, Detroit Free Press, 30 Oct. 2022
  • That evening, Olsen was dressed in black trousers, a loose-fitting blazer, purple socks, and brown loafers.
    Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
  • But behind the scenes, FTX played loose with customer money.
    Caitlin McCabe, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Two years later—with the Supreme Court shaking loose a lot of ground in the interim—that figure surged to 60%.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 23 June 2023
  • Simple clothes hang loose, such as capes, cloaks or loincloths.
    Ian Gilligan, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Chugiak junior Seth Strange said staying loose helped the team overcome the roller-coaster swings.
    Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 3 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'loose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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