From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Loose \Loose\ (l[=oo]s), a. [Compar. {Looser} (l[=oo]s"[~e]r);
superl. {Loosest}.] [OE. loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin
to OD. loos, D. los, AS. le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los,
loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s, Goth. laus, and E. lose. [root]127.
See {Lose}, and cf. {Leasing} falsehood.]
1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed,
or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.
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Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat.
--Shak.
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2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty,
habit, etc.; -- with from or of.
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Now I stand
Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts ?
--Addison.
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3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.
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4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of
loose texture.
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With horse and chariots ranked in loose array.
--Milton.
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5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose
style, or way of reasoning.
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The comparison employed . . . must be considered
rather as a loose analogy than as an exact
scientific explanation. --Whewel.
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6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to
some standard of right.
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The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W.
Scott.
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7. Unconnected; rambling.
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Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose
and unconnected pages. --I. Watts.
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8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke.
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9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.
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Loose ladies in delight. --Spenser.
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10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language;
as, a loose epistle. --Dryden.
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{At loose ends}, not in order; in confusion; carelessly
managed.
{Fast and loose}. See under {Fast}.
{To break loose}. See under {Break}.
{Loose pulley}. (Mach.) See {Fast and loose pulleys}, under
{Fast}.
{To let loose}, to free from restraint or confinement; to set
at liberty.
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