make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope"
loosen
How to use loosen in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for loosen.
Editorial note
If your walls are too thick, loosen up.
Quick take
make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope"
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of loosen gathered in one view.
make less severe or strict; "The government relaxed the curfew after most of the rebels were caught"
become less severe or strict; "The rules relaxed after the new director arrived"
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for loosen.
verb
make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope"
See also: loose
verb
make less severe or strict; "The government relaxed the curfew after most of the rebels were caught"
See also: relax
verb
become less severe or strict; "The rules relaxed after the new director arrived"
See also: relax
verb
disentangle and raise the fibers of; "tease wool"
See also: tease
verb
cause to become loose; "undo the shoelace"; "untie the knot"; "loosen the necktie"
verb
make less dense; "loosen the soil"
verb
become loose or looser or less tight; "The noose loosened"; "the rope relaxed"
Example sentences
If your walls are too thick, loosen up.
You don't get "Dear, please don't loosen that bolt until you jack up the rest.
Is the SEC going to loosen that 500 investor limit?
Live a little, loosen up, we'll all have time to worry about "just the facts" when we're dead.
So much of this would go away if the city would just loosen its building and zoning regulations.
Sorry but I really think everyone should collectively loosen up.
Eventually, buyers will give up while waiting in absurdly long queues, and demand will loosen.
The great thing about threaded steel pipe is that you can tighten or loosen the pipes slightly to eliminate any wobble.
Good ISP's properly loosen the restrictions to allow obviously-good home uses.
If that's not intended to be a wildly exaggerated parody, you really may need to loosen the tinfoil wrapped around your head up a bit.
If making a mistake while falsifying a statement from Snowden is plausible, then why isn't making a mistake while editing or transcribing plausible?I think you need to loosen your tinfoil.
Random Pro-tip related to dry-erase on monitors:If someone, perhaps an age-impaired individual, draws on your awesome screen with a permanent marker, you can draw over it with a dry-erase pen to loosen the permanent ink.
What ketamine and other disassociatives do is they "loosen" one's attachment and identification with various parts of their cognitive minds, allowing thoughts and feelings to exist in their own space without having such a strong hold on a person's conscious self, or seat of awareness, or whatever.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use loosen in a sentence?
If your walls are too thick, loosen up.
What does loosen mean?
make loose or looser; "loosen the tension on a rope"
What part of speech is loosen?
loosen is commonly used as verb.