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# loosen

«loosen» in Mova's school dictionary: **To make something less tight, firm or fixed: «loosen your…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (loosen, loosens, loosened, loosening)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To make something less tight, firm or fixed: «loosen your belt», «loosen a screw». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#m1)

2) To become less tight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#m2)

3) To make rules or control less strict. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life: loosen shoelaces, a jar lid or a tie. In first aid, loosen tight clothing around the neck of someone who feels faint. In science and DIY, you loosen screws by turning them anticlockwise. Phrases: «loosen up» (relax), «loosen your grip», «loosen a knot».

### examples

- Loosen your shoelaces before you take off your shoes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x1)
- Dad loosened the lid of the jar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x2)
- Turn the screw anticlockwise to loosen it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x3)
- My tooth has loosened; it might fall out soon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x4)
- Loosen tight clothing if someone feels faint. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x5)
- Shake your arms to loosen up before the race. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x6)
- Lots were drawn, and one fell upon our Prince, whose chains were immediately loosened. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/#x7)

### note

Past: loosened. Opposite: tighten. Do not confuse «loose» (not tight, rhymes with «goose») with «lose» (not have any more). «Loosen up» means relax.

### In the corpora

- [Soap loosens dirt and germs so that water can rinse them away; water alone washes off much less.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/29-germs-from-animals/20/)
- [The blue reliever inhaler relaxes the airway muscles within minutes, like loosening a tight belt round the airways.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/14-asthma-and-inhalers/1/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «loosen» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/loosen/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.