verb
- Make loose or looser.
- usage: "loosen the tension on a rope"
- synonyms: loose
- Make less severe or strict.
- usage: "The government relaxed the curfew after most of the rebels were caught"
- synonyms: relax
- Become less severe or strict.
- usage: "The rules relaxed after the new director arrived"
- synonyms: relax
- Disentangle and raise the fibers of.
- usage: "tease wool"
- synonyms: tease, tease apart
- Cause to become loose.
- usage: "undo the shoelace"; "untie the knot"; "loosen the necktie"
- Make less dense.
- usage: "loosen the soil"
- Become loose or looser or less tight.
- usage: "The noose loosened"; "the rope relaxed"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). Loosen. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/loosen/definitions/1328742 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "Loosen" http://smartdefine.org/loosen/definitions/1328742 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, Loosen, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/loosen/definitions/1328742>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "Loosen" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/loosen/definitions/1328742> |