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Let loose   /lɛt lus/   Listen
verb
Let  v. t.  (past & past part. let, obs. letted; pres. part. letting)  
1.
To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. (Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.) "He... prayed him his voyage for to let." "Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets." "Let me alone in choosing of my wife."
2.
To consider; to think; to esteem. (Obs.)
3.
To cause; to make; used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. (Obs.) "This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch." "He... thus let do slay hem all three." "Anon he let two coffers make."
4.
To permit; to allow; to suffer; either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent. Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let (to be or to go) loose. "Pharaoh said, I will let you go." "If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is."
5.
To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses.
6.
To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering. Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. " Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let." In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. " Rise up, let us go." " Let us seek out some desolate shade."
To let alone, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with.
To let blood, to cause blood to flow; to bleed.
To let down.
(a)
To lower.
(b)
To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like.
To let fly or To let drive, to discharge with violence, as a blow, an arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly.
To let in or To let into.
(a)
To permit or suffer to enter; to admit.
(b)
To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a surface for the purpose.
To let loose, to remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large.
To let off.
(a)
To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the charge of, as a gun.
(b)
To release, as from an engagement or obligation. (Colloq.)
To let out.
(a)
To allow to go forth; as, to let out a prisoner.
(b)
To extend or loosen, as the folds of a garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord.
(c)
To lease; to give out for performance by contract, as a job.
(d)
To divulge.
To let slide, to let go; to cease to care for. (Colloq.) " Let the world slide."


adjective
Loose  adj.  (compar. looser; superl. loosest)  
1.
Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book. "Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat."
2.
Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty, habit, etc.; with from or of. "Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's thoughts?"
3.
Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.
4.
Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of loose texture. "With horse and chariots ranked in loose array."
5.
Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose style, or way of reasoning. "The comparison employed... must be considered rather as a loose analogy than as an exact scientific explanation."
6.
Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. "The loose morality which he had learned."
7.
Unconnected; rambling. "Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages."
8.
Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.
9.
Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman. "Loose ladies in delight."
10.
Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language; as, a loose epistle.
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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Let loose" Quotes from Famous Books



... affair carried into the region of abstract ideas," said Finot. "Fasten intentions on the Government, and then let loose ...
— A Distinguished Provincial at Paris • Honore de Balzac
... Elizabethan times such does not seem to have been the case, as one of the duties of the clerks in those days was to make the church clean from the "shomeryng of dogs." The nave of the church was often used for secular purposes, and dogs followed their masters. Mastiffs were sometimes let loose in the church to guard the treasures, and I believe that I am right in stating that chancel rails owe their origin to the presence of dogs in churches, and were erected to prevent them from entering the sanctuary. ...
— The Parish Clerk (1907) • Peter Hampson Ditchfield
... the boat pitches over the little waves! And, Mr. Piscator, direct the boat toward the shore, so as to make it rock more. The heavens are all grey, and the waters are all black, and the wind is high and wild in its sport like an imprisoned bird let loose. Oh master, spread the other sail, and see if we can't fly faster! Here are the rocks so grim; but it is growing dark, and I can only just make them out. Why, Mr. Piscator, you are not going near enough! Run close in ...
— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, May 1844 - Volume 23, Number 5 • Various
... "Then I should let loose the dogs. Halloo! Then away over bogs and pools to the naked heath. Hah! that would be something pleasant to see—still pleasanter to follow him on ...
— The Sand-Hills of Jutland • Hans Christian Andersen
... hour was a busy one, in which razors, combs and brushes were applied vigorously, and the man with a complete shoe cleaning outfit found himself suddenly popular. The scene in the crowded washrooms resembled pandemonium let loose, but in an incredibly short time first one man and then another emerged spic and span, and by the time the bugle blew again there were only a few stragglers who were caught unprepared. These last threw themselves desperately into ...
— Army Boys on German Soil • Homer Randall


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