loosen
verb/ˈluːsn/
/ˈluːsn/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they loosen | /ˈluːsn/ /ˈluːsn/ |
| he / she / it loosens | /ˈluːsnz/ /ˈluːsnz/ |
| past simple loosened | /ˈluːsnd/ /ˈluːsnd/ |
| past participle loosened | /ˈluːsnd/ /ˈluːsnd/ |
| -ing form loosening | /ˈluːsnɪŋ/ /ˈluːsnɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] loosen (something) to make something less tight or strongly fixed; to become less tight or strongly fixed synonym slacken
- First loosen the nuts, then take off the wheel.
- The rope holding the boat loosened.
- [transitive] loosen something to make a piece of clothing, hair, etc. loose, when it has been tied or fastened
- She loosened her hair so that it fell over her shoulders.
- [transitive] loosen your hands, hold, etc. to hold somebody/something less tightly
- He loosened his grip and let her go.
- (figurative) The military regime has not loosened its hold on power.
- [transitive] loosen something to make something weaker or less carefully managed than before synonym relax
- The party has loosened its links with big business.
opposite tighten
Idioms
See loosen in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee loosen in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishloosen somebody’s tongue
- to make somebody talk more freely than usual
- A bottle of wine had loosened Harry's tongue.
Check pronunciation:
loosen