n. [ AS. los loss, losing, fr. leísan to lose. √127. See Lose, v. t. ] 1. The act of losing; failure; destruction; privation; as, the loss of property; loss of money by gaming; loss of health or reputation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assured loss before the match be played. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of losing or having lost; the privation, defect, misfortune, harm, etc., which ensues from losing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss. Shak [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is lost or from which one has parted; waste; -- opposed to gain or increase; as, the loss of liquor by leakage was considerable. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The state of being lost or destroyed; especially, the wreck or foundering of a ship or other vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Failure to gain or win; as, loss of a race or battle. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Failure to use advantageously; as, loss of time. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Mil.) Killed, wounded, and captured persons, or captured property. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Insurance) Destruction or diminution of value, if brought about in a manner provided for in the insurance contract (as destruction by fire or wreck, damage by water or smoke), or the death or injury of an insured person; also, the sum paid or payable therefor; as, the losses of the company this year amount to a million of dollars. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bear a loss, to make a loss good; also, to sustain a loss without sinking under it. --
To be at a loss, to be in a state of uncertainty.

Syn. -- Privation; detriment; injury; damage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. something lost, especially money lost at gambling. Inverse of winnings.
Syn. -- losings. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Detrimental. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers.
Syn. -- drawing card, loss leader, leader. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Free from loss. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Computers) The compression of binary data into a form which, when it is re-expanded, has most, but not all, of the original information. It is used primarily for compression of images and sounds, and is designed to provide a high degree of compression at the cost of a slight loss of data. It is expemplified by the JPEG compression standard. Images compressed by a lossy compression algorithm are re-expanded into an image close, but not identical to the original image; the difference between the original and the reconstructed image may be imperceptible to normal viewing by the eye. [ PJC ]