Loose a. [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.   --Shak.
 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 ?   --Addison.
 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.   --Milton.
 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.   --Whewel.
 6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right.
    The loose morality which he had learned.   --Sir W. Scott.
 7. Unconnected; rambling.
    Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose and unconnected pages.   --I. Watts.
 8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.
 9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.
    Loose ladies in delight.   --Spenser.
 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.


 Fast, a. [Compar. Faster superl. Fastest ]
 1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door.
    There is an order that keeps things fast.   --Burke.
 2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.
    Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places.   --Spenser.
 3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.
 4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.
 5. Tenacious; retentive. [Obs.]
    Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.   --Bacon.
 6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.
    All this while in a most fast sleep.   --Shak.
 7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse.
 8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver.
 9. In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table, etc.
 Fast and loose, now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. “Play fast and loose with faith.” --Shak.
 Fast and loose pulleys Mach., two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and reëngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa.
 Hard and fast Naut., so completely aground as to be immovable.
 To make fast Naut., to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door.