- 1[transitive, intransitive] loosen (something) to make something less tight or firmly fixed; to become less tight or firmly fixed synonym slacken First loosen the nuts, then take off the wheel. The rope holding the boat loosened.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2[transitive] loosen something to make a piece of clothing, hair, etc. loose, when it has been tied or fastened
- 3[transitive] loosen your hands, hold, etc. to hold someone or something less tightly He loosened his grip and let her go. (figurative) The military regime has not loosened its hold on power.
- 4[transitive] loosen something to make something weaker or less controlled than before synonym relax The party has loosened its links with big business. opposite tighten Idioms
loosen
verbNAmE//ˈlusn//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they loosen he / she / it loosens
past simple loosened
-ing form loosening
to make someone talk more freely than usual A bottle of wine had loosened Harry's tongue. Phrasal Verbsloosen up
Check pronunciation: loosen