Find yourself tripping over words? In this series I'm covering "pot-hole" words -- the words we stumble over; words that it's easy to confuse and misuse, and that are often confused by online writers.
Let's start with "lose" and "loose".
Lose is a verb. You lose stuff -- your keys or your ambition. It's also the opposite of "win" -- when you don't win, you lose. It's easy to lose your way in the mountains. Did you lose the CD?
Loose is an adjective; it means not firmly fixed or tied in place; relaxed. Your belt can be loose, or your stride. However, you can also use loose as a verb, when it means to undo, or to free, as in: She loosened the ribbon around her gift. She loosed the chickens.
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