n. Failure to hold, keep, or preserve what one has had in his possession; disappearance from possession, use, or knowledge; deprivation of that which one has had: as, the loss of money by gaming; loss of health or reputation; loss of children: opposed to gain.n. Specifically, death.n. Failure to gain or win: as, the loss of a prize or battle.n. That which is lost or forfeited; that which has been scattered or wasted: as, the loss by leakage amounted to 20 gallons; an insurance company's loss by a fire.n. Defeat; overthrow; ruin.n. Lack; want.n. The state of being at fault; the state of having lost the trail and scent of game.n. At such a price as to lose or incur loss.n. To sustain a loss with spirit or fortitude.n. Synonyms Loss, Detriment, Damage, Waste, Forfeiture, etc. Loss is the class word under which detriment, damage, waste, forfeiture, etc., are species. Loss, detriment, and damage apply to persons or things; waste and forfeiture only to things. As to detriment and damage, see injury. Waste is generally voluntary, although not always realized; sometimes it is only by neglect. Forfeiture is a loss through the law, as a penalty or as the result of neglect.n. See loess.