Definition of "loose" []

• Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks. (adjective)
• Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg. (adjective)
• Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets. (adjective)
• Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes. (adjective)
• Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There were loose ends, but there always are; that's why you have the phrase loose ends."
• ""I hate to use the word loose cannon, but he is," she said "It distresses me that Newt is pulling ahead, because I don't think he's electable at all.""
• "(B) loose-slippings: never saw or heard it; the term loose chippings refers to gravel or crushed stone that has not yet been bonded into fresh asphalt in a road repair."