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Loosen   /lˈusən/   Listen
Loosen

verb
(past & past part. loosened; pres. part. loosening)
1.
Make loose or looser.  Synonym: loose.
2.
Make less severe or strict.  Synonym: relax.
3.
Become less severe or strict.  Synonym: relax.
4.
Disentangle and raise the fibers of.  Synonyms: tease, tease apart.
5.
Cause to become loose.  Synonyms: undo, untie.  "Untie the knot" , "Loosen the necktie"
6.
Make less dense.
7.
Become loose or looser or less tight.  Synonyms: loose, relax.  "The rope relaxed"



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"Loosen" Quotes from Famous Books



... subjection on to it, and tied it on with the broad band of Inevitable Necessity. Then she looked at the earth and the sky, and knew there was no hope for her; and she lay down on the sand with the burden she could not loosen. Ever since she has lain here. And the ages have come, and the ages have gone, but the band of Inevitable ...
— Dreams • Olive Schreiner

... the wide-spread host, Together took their way; but when they came Where fair-hair'd Menelaus, wounded, stood, Around him in a ring the best of Greece, And in the midst the godlike chief himself, From the close-fitting belt the shaft he drew, Breaking the pointed barbs; the sparkling belt He loosen'd, and the doublet underneath, And coat of mail, the work of arm'rer's hand. But when the wound appear'd in sight, where struck The stinging arrow, from the clotted blood He cleans'd it, and applied with skilful hand The herbs of healing power, which Chiron erst In ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... storm-wind swayed. From the roots of the hills to the plain's dim verge and the dark loud shore, Air shudders with shrill spears crossing, and hurtling of wheels that roar. As the grinding of teeth in the jaws of a lion that foam as they gnash Is the shriek of the axles that loosen, the shock of the poles that crash. 1350 The dense manes darken and glitter, the mouths of the mad steeds champ, Their heads flash blind through the battle, and death's foot rings in their tramp. For a fourfold host upon ...
— Erechtheus - A Tragedy (New Edition) • Algernon Charles Swinburne

... the spleen, the tripes, the kidneys, the bladder, wherewith they make footballs; the ribs, which serve in Pigmyland to make little crossbows to pelt the cranes with cherry-stones; the head, which with a little brimstone serves to make a miraculous decoction to loosen and ease the belly of costive dogs? A turd on't, said the skipper to his preaching passenger, what a fiddle-faddle have we here? There is too long a lecture by half: sell him if thou wilt; if thou won't, don't let the man lose more time. ...
— Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete. • Francois Rabelais

... log, busy rollin' a cigarette, and in place of his usual solemn air he looks satisfied and happy. That's as much as he can seem to loosen up. ...
— Wilt Thou Torchy • Sewell Ford

... Harry's imminent danger, and rushed to the rescue. Quickly though they ran, however, it seemed likely that they would be too late. Harry's head already overhung the bank, and the Indian was endeavouring to loosen the gripe of the young man's hand from his throat, preparatory to tossing him over, when a wild cry rang through the forest, followed by the reports of a double-barrelled gun, fired in quick succession. ...
— The Young Fur Traders • R.M. Ballantyne

... many of the smaller quadrupeds, and forest-birds, that, hushed in lonely places, shall awake to life and activity as soon as the sun-beams shall once more dissolve the snow, unbind the frozen streams, and loosen the bands which held ...
— Lady Mary and her Nurse • Catharine Parr Traill

... at once, then come back to me," commanded her ladyship, as she stooped to lift her brother's head to place a cushion under it and loosen his necktie. ...
— Virgie's Inheritance • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

... not easy, with the face of his beloved wife fresh before him, to compose his mind to what it must bear. His hold on life was strong, and it was very, very hard, to loosen; by gradual efforts and degrees unclosed a little here, it clenched the tighter there; and when he brought his strength to bear on that hand and it yielded, this was closed again. There was a hurry, too, ...
— A Tale of Two Cities - A Story of the French Revolution • Charles Dickens

... knife open and peel down one section of each banana, carefully loosen the pulp from the rest of the skin; remove pulp and scrape lightly with a silver knife, removing all the coarse threads. Replace the pulp in its original shape in the skins. Arrange the bananas ...
— Fifty-Two Sunday Dinners - A Book of Recipes • Elizabeth O. Hiller

... shouting, my friend," agreed old Gideon. "I guess, Elliot, you can loosen up on the chef's throat awhile. He's had persuading enough, don't you reckon? I'll sit here and sorter keep the boys company while you cut the pack-ropes and bring 'em here. But first I'd step in and unload ...
— The Yukon Trail - A Tale of the North • William MacLeod Raine

... he, going up to her, and trying to raise her, and to loosen her hands away from her face. 'I've been too sudden for thee: it was thoughtless in me; but I have so looked forward to this time, and seeing thee come along the field, and go past me, but I should ha' been more tender and careful of thee. Nay! let ...
— Sylvia's Lovers, Vol. III • Elizabeth Gaskell

... felt. I did not understand then, though I have since comprehended it, that I was like some great tree, rooted in the ground, which could not be dragged from the earth in which it was buried until it had received some sudden blow to loosen its hold and make its ...
— Strange Visitors • Henry J. Horn

... cut is almost healed and I can wear my sandal again. Now I shall tie it on and go and ask Serapion for some bread for you and perhaps he will give us a few dates. Please loosen the straps for me a little, here, round the ankle, my skin is so thin and tender that a little thing hurts me which you would hardly feel. At mid-day I will go with you and help fill the jars for the altar, and later ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... unprotected. Kennicott had taken a patient to Rochester for an operation. He would be away for two or three days. She had not minded; she would loosen the matrimonial tension and be a fanciful girl for a time. But now that he was gone the house was listeningly empty. Bea was out this afternoon—presumably drinking coffee and talking about "fellows" with her cousin Tina. It was the day for ...
— Main Street • Sinclair Lewis

... The tension did not loosen as they made their way to the great depot, just in time to board the earlier of the "dinner trains," at 5.13. But, as they passed in, Joyce circumvented any further such pairing off by calmly seating herself by Camille, and leaving the young men to ...
— Joyce's Investments - A Story for Girls • Fannie E. Newberry

... off his mind, he sat silent, unresponsive to the openings I tried to make for a beginning. Not till I had exhausted small talk of current events and asked after his family in particular instead of his ancestors in general, did his tongue loosen. ...
— The House of the Misty Star - A Romance of Youth and Hope and Love in Old Japan • Fannie Caldwell Macaulay

... looks in doorway. Florence at mirror, about to loosen dress. Turns. Bill comes in. ...
— Writing the Photoplay • J. Berg Esenwein and Arthur Leeds

... from the resemblance of its wing covering, in form and colour to a dry willow leaf; it is found in China and South America, and in the latter country many of the Indians believe that Mantes grow on trees like leaves, and that having arrived at maturity, they loosen themselves, ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. 14, Issue 398, November 14, 1829 • Various

... the dunes. [Footnote: When the deposit is not very deep, and the adjacent land lying to the leeward of the prevailing winds is covered with water, or otherwise worthless, the surface is sometimes freed from the drifts by repeated harrowings, which loosen the sand, so that the wind takes it up and transports it to grounds where accumulations of it are less injurious.] Diluvial sand plains, also, have been reclaimed by these methods in the Duchy of Austria, ...
— The Earth as Modified by Human Action • George P. Marsh

... little of the thoughts of his conductors; who, leaving the buffalo road, and striking into the pathless forest, pushed onward at a rapid pace, compelling him to keep up with them; and it was not until he had twice fainted from pain and exhaustion, that, after some discussion, they thought fit to loosen the thong, which they afterwards removed altogether. Then, whether it was that they were touched at last with compassion, or afraid that death might snatch the prisoner from their hands, if too severely treated, they proceeded even to take other measures of a seemingly friendly kind, ...
— Nick of the Woods • Robert M. Bird

... change the upper sheet.—Loosen all the clothes at the foot of the bed. Spread a clean sheet and blanket, wrong side up, on top of the other bedclothes. Pin the clean clothes at the head of the bed or get the patient to hold them. Gradually slip down and draw ...
— Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management • Ministry of Education

... showed how he could have tripped him up, and Archie Hawkins said that snuff would make a bulldog loosen his grip, because he would have to keep sneezing. None of them seemed to have seen either Bunty's shotgun or his bulldog, but they all believed that he had them because Jim Leonard said so, just ...
— The Flight of Pony Baker - A Boy's Town Story • W. D. Howells

... it is captivated to the works of the law; for conscience is such a thing, that if it once be possessed with a doctrine, yea, though but with the doctrine of an idol, it will cleave so fast thereto that nothing but a hand from heaven can loosen it; and if it be not loosed, no gospel can be there embraced (1 Cor 8:7). Conscience is Little-ease, if men resist it, whether it be rightly or wrongly informed.[26] How fast, then, will it hold when it knows it cleaves to the law of God! Upon this account, ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... who could not see well because of the overhanging hay, drove a few inches too close to one of them, and a wheel passed over a small stone beside the wheel track. The jolt was slight, but it proved sufficient to loosen the unstable "podgum." The load had barely cleared the posts when the entire side of it came sliding down—and grandmother Ruth with it! We heard her cry out as she fell, and then all of us who were behind scaled the wall and rushed to her rescue. ...
— A Busy Year at the Old Squire's • Charles Asbury Stephens

... operate, and its first effect was to loosen the old lady's tongue. She began to talk of priests in a ...
— The Eternal City • Hall Caine

... herself: she used to scratch and bite when she was thrashed. Once she tried to hang herself. She did not succeed: she had hardly set about it than she was afraid lest she might succeed only too well; and, even while she was beginning to choke and desperately clutching at the rope and trying to loosen it with stiff fumbling fingers, there was writhing in her a furious desire to live. And since she could not escape by death,—(Christophe smiled sadly, remembering his own experiences,)—she swore that she would win, and be free, rich, ...
— Jean-Christophe Journey's End • Romain Rolland

... her heart that it was because he was young and in trouble, and had left her quickly, blindly, as eager as she to loosen that ...
— The Happy Foreigner • Enid Bagnold

... works on manures, but the facts are the same. The action of manures is either mechanical or chemical, or a combination of both. For instance: some kinds of manure improve the mechanical character of the soil, such as those which loosen stiff clay soils, or others which render light sandy soils compact—these are called mechanical manures. Some again furnish food for plants—these are called ...
— The Elements of Agriculture - A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools • George E. Waring

... Council see clearly that we can have no sure footing in Norway so long as the nobles and the people continue, as now, to think themselves wronged and oppressed. We understand to the full that willing allies are better than sullen subjects; and we have therefore no heartier wish than to loosen the bonds that hamper us, in effect, quite as straitly as you. But you will scarce deny that the temper of Norway towards us makes such a step too dangerous—so long as we have no sure support ...
— Henrik Ibsen's Prose Dramas Vol III. • Henrik Ibsen

... that it was an unwholesome thing for a man to be awakened in the early morning, 'for one ought to wake up natural-like,' he explained. The white carter 'couldn't bear with niggers,' and though he did his work well and faithfully, he helped to demoralize the place and loosen discipline. Everything was at sixes and sevens, when, on the occasion of Mrs. Stevenson's going to Fiji for a few months' rest, my sister and I took charge of affairs. The expensive German was bidden to depart; Mr. Stevenson discharged the carter; the white overseer (who was tied to ...
— Stories of Authors, British and American • Edwin Watts Chubb

... immediately look at the place; and if he discern a tiny black point, surrounded by a small white ring, the former is the chigoe, or sand- flea, and the latter the eggs which it has deposited in the flesh. The first thing to be done is to loosen the skin all round as far as the white skin is visible; the whole deposit is then extracted, and a little snuff strewn in the empty space. The blacks perform this ...
— The Story of Ida Pfeiffer - and Her Travels in Many Lands • Anonymous

... my heart I knew what was coming, and I watched the woman loosen her tartan shawl and lay her infant in a neuk ...
— The McBrides - A Romance of Arran • John Sillars

... ever been companions, and have misled and enslaved mankind; philosophy has in all ages endeavoured to oppose their progress, and to loosen the shackles they had imposed; philosophers have on this account been called unbelievers: unbelievers of what? of the fictions of fancy, of witchcraft, hobgobblins, apparitions, vampires, fairies; of the influence ...
— Zoonomia, Vol. II - Or, the Laws of Organic Life • Erasmus Darwin

... bdellium flowers, half an ounce, and with oil of roses make a liniment. Also wash the child's mouth with barley and plantain-water, and honey of roses, mixing with them a little verjuice of lemons, as well to loosen and cleanse the vicious humours which cleave to the inside of the infant's mouth, as to cool those parts which are already over-heated. It may be done by means of a small fine rag, fastened to the end ...
— The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher • Anonymous

... forward strongly to loosen joint muscles. Cut through one shoulder joint and then other, going carefully as at knee and tail, so as not to cut skin ...
— Taxidermy • Leon Luther Pray

... in the plates of the Nautilus was first closed, and fastened down by means of a false key, with which Ned Land had provided himself; the opening in the boat was also closed. The Canadian began to loosen the bolts which still held us ...
— Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea • Jules Verne

... tended to extend and rivet in their minds the conception of a definite order of the universe—which is embodied in what are called, by an unhappy metaphor, the laws of Nature—and to narrow the range and loosen the force of men's belief in spontaneity, or in changes other than such as arise out of that definite ...
— Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews • Thomas Henry Huxley

... answered Hilda, "will not reveal themselves to eyes uninitiate save at their own will, uncompelled by charm and rune. To me their forms can appear distinct through the airy flame; to me, duly prepared by spells that purge the eye of the spirit, and loosen the walls of the flesh. I cannot say that what I see in the trance and the travail of my soul, thou also wilt behold; or even when the vision hath passed from my sight, and the voice from my ear, only memories, ...
— Harold, Complete - The Last Of The Saxon Kings • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... thine, from black-letter books. They look stiff and sterling, and as though a man might dig about 'em for a week, and never loosen the lightest. ...
— Citation and Examination of William Shakspeare • Walter Savage Landor

... "Here loosen him a bit!" said Dick, grasping the big man by the shoulder. "Do you hear? You'll choke the man and how the blazes can he answer you when you hold him like that? Now then ...
— A Rip Van Winkle Of The Kalahari - Seven Tales of South-West Africa • Frederick Cornell

... spiritual strength in this Peniel of divine Science. Then said 308:24 the spiritual evangel: "Let me go, for the day breaketh;" that is, the light of Truth and Love dawns upon thee. But the patriarch, perceiving his error and his need 308:27 of help, did not loosen his hold upon this glorious light until his nature was transformed. When Jacob was asked, "What is thy name?" he straightway answered; 308:30 and then his name was changed to Israel, for "as a prince" had he prevailed and had "power with God and with men." Then Jacob questioned his deliverer, "Tell ...
— Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures • Mary Baker Eddy

... Banion sprang to the head of his horse, flinging out an arm to keep Jackson out of the saddle. The horse, frightened at the stubborn struggle between the two, sprang away. Woodhull was pulled flat by the rope about his neck, nor could he loosen it now with his hands, for the horse kept steadily away. Any instant and he might be off in a mad flight, dragging the man ...
— The Covered Wagon • Emerson Hough

... mounted her chariot Ameni said "Thou art the child of kings. The house of thy father rests on the shoulders of the people. Loosen the old laws which hold them subject, and the people will conduct ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... in my hand and walked out on the edge of the cliff somewhat sobered. Directly below me were the pirates, and at my feet I noticed a fragment of rock that I thought I could loosen. Putting down my food, I foolishly picked up a piece of timber which I used as a lever, when, without warning, the mass broke away, and with a tremendous bound went crashing down into the very midst of the pirates, scattering them right and left, ...
— Tales of the Malayan Coast - From Penang to the Philippines • Rounsevelle Wildman

... clumps of crinkled leaves and, wishing to feel the coolness of their slim, pale stalks between her fingers, Rose Mallett dismounted, slipped the reins over her arm and allowed her horse to feed while she stooped to the flowers. Then, in the full sunshine, with the soft breeze trying to loosen her hair, with the flowers in her bare hand, she straightened herself, consciously happy in the beauty of the day, in the freedom and strength of her body, in the smell of the earth and the sight of the country she had ...
— THE MISSES MALLETT • E. H. YOUNG

... Edith, "and now, if ever, is our time to escape. Oh, if we were not so helplessly bound and could slip away into the woods! I would rather die in an effort to escape than suffer the agony of this suspense. Can't you loosen your arms ...
— At War with Pontiac - The Totem of the Bear • Kirk Munroe and J. Finnemore

... eyes were filled with tears. Vivian was springing forward to press her hand, and bear her to the carriage, when Mrs. Felix Lorraine seized his arm, vowed she was going to faint, and, ere she could recover herself, or loosen her ...
— Vivian Grey • The Earl of Beaconsfield

... like a very easy way of acquiring trees, but it sometimes takes an hour to loosen a sturdy pine of four feet. Of course a relentless hand that stops at nothing, with a grub-axe and spade, could do it in fifteen minutes, but the roots would be cut or bruised and the pulling and tugging be so violent that not a bit of earth ...
— The Garden, You, and I • Mabel Osgood Wright

... been all the time trying to loosen my ropes, and had got one of my hands nearly free, and I thought that if they waited another half hour I might have got them both free, and been able to make a bit of a fight of it, though I had very little hope ...
— Colonel Thorndyke's Secret • G. A. Henty

... the white curtains were drawn back; and in order to quiet her broken and disjointed thoughts, she began to count the leaves as they fell, one by one, turning softly at the stem, and then floating out into the darkness beyond. "One. Two. How long that leaf takes to loosen. He is better. The doctor certainly thought that he was better. If he only gets well. O God, let him get well, and I will serve you all my life! Three—four—five—For twenty-four hours we thought you would slip through our fingers. Somebody said that—somebody—it ...
— Virginia • Ellen Glasgow

... flocked in along with this. The hand she had clasped so lately, and the way it had clasped her; a longing that would hardly be gainsaid for the touch of it again. Was she forgetting that? was she trying to loosen that bond? She paused, leaning back against the wall, holding her hands tight. But even with the answer the other cry came up: the world was all reeling under her feet,she must have something that would stand. For the time everything else gave way. It was true, this trouble might pass,then others ...
— The Gold of Chickaree • Susan Warner

... sum—they began to chat. And their conversation naturally turned upon their future, and they spoke of their marriage, although there had never been any previous mention of love between them. But this heap of money seemed to loosen their tongues. They had gradually seated themselves further back on the bed, leaning against the wall, beneath the white muslin curtains; and as they talked together, their hands, playing with the heap of silver between them, met, and remained linked amidst the pile ...
— The Fat and the Thin • Emile Zola

... when one morning he strode into the hall with some of the fire of his former years, and called his sons to him. One by one he signed to each to draw near, and taking their soft hands in his palms, pressed so hard that the boys cried to him to loosen his grasp, or they would die of the pain. But when he came to Rodrigo, he heard no prayers of mercy from him, only threats and hot words uttered with blazing eyes and cheeks burning with anger. And the old man wept for ...
— The Red Romance Book • Various

... at this, nips King Drake in the leg. "Oh, loosen your claw! Let go! Oh! I beg." Tighter pinches the claw: "Rebellion! help! hear! King Drake is in ...
— The Nursery, August 1877, Vol. XXII, No. 2 - A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers • Various

... went to work to loosen the window so that he could take it out. It was secured by nails, but with such tools as he had in the cabin, he soon had it free. Then he lifted out the window, putting it back loosely so that he could remove it in a second's time. There was no wisdom in leaving it open until ...
— The Snowshoe Trail • Edison Marshall

... gradually in the hot water. In an hour pour off all the water, and setting the pan on hot coals, stir up and toss the rice with a fork, so as to separate the grains, and to dry without hardening it. Do not use a spoon, as that will not loosen ...
— Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches • Eliza Leslie

... as she rose to depart. "Why so hurried? Let us see. Take of the wrap. Step behind the screen and loosen your corset. Perhaps even you could ...
— The Price She Paid • David Graham Phillips

... for an amateur. I finished one case of shoes (thirty-six pairs) in little more than an hour. By ten o'clock the room grew stifling hot. I was obliged to discard my dress skirt and necktie, loosen collar, roll up my sleeves. My warmer blooded companions did the like. It was singular to watch the clock mark out the morning hours, and at ten, already early, very early in the forenoon, feel tired because one had been three ...
— The Woman Who Toils - Being the Experiences of Two Gentlewomen as Factory Girls • Mrs. John Van Vorst and Marie Van Vorst

... every five minutes, and complain to the steward in the weak voice of a child, would they have regretted having forced him to leave? On my word, the poor Tuer deserved pity. Overcome by sea-sickness, he had not the will even to loosen his sash or rid himself of his weapons. The hunting knife with the big handle dug into his ribs. His revolver bruised his leg, and the final straw was the nagging of Tartarin-Sancho, who never ceased whining ...
— Tartarin de Tarascon • Alphonse Daudet

... years making the tools I possess, and have been two years scraping and digging out earth, hard as granite itself; then what toil and fatigue has it not been to remove huge stones I should once have deemed impossible to loosen. Whole days have I passed in these Titanic efforts, considering my labor well repaid if, by night-time I had contrived to carry away a square inch of this hard-bound cement, changed by ages into a substance unyielding as the stones ...
— The Count of Monte Cristo • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... demon. What is more, he was making the others work, flailing them all—peer and baronet and parson—with slave-driver's oaths, while they tugged to loosen the timbers under which the ...
— News from the Duchy • Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... remove the belt guard and then, using fingers, compress the belt at a point midway between the sheaves. The proper setting at this point measured between the outer edges of the belt, should be between 1-3/4" and 1-7/8". If adjustment is necessary loosen the two mounting bolts, and move the fuel unit up or down to give the necessary belt setting. Then re-tighten the mounting bolts securely and ...
— Installation and Operation Instructions For Custom Mark III CP Series Oil Fired Unit • Anonymous

... next to the people the proposed new brain tracks are for, who seem to be the particular kind of people best calculated to make the necessary excavations in their brains, to loosen up ideas, or any hard gray matter there may be there, so that ...
— The Ghost in the White House • Gerald Stanley Lee

... on and the ground became more difficult, the other ladies dropped behind one by one, but Esmeralda never wearied, never flinched before any obstacle. It was the prettiest thing in the world to see her trot slowly but straightly towards gate or fence, loosen the reins, and soar like a bird over the apparently formidable obstacle, and Hilliard privately admitted that it took him all his time to keep level with her. The Major still rode apart, and seemed to take pleasure in choosing the most difficult jumps that came in his ...
— Pixie O'Shaughnessy • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... at her ripest flower—the petals were soon to loosen and flutter to the ground, but nobody thought so—they never do. Everywhere the Roman legions were victorious, and commerce sailed the seas in prosperous ships. Power manifests itself in conspicuous waste, and the habit grows until conspicuous waste imagines itself ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8 • Elbert Hubbard

... vast and far away? Do you sigh at the long, long time? Or does it appear hopeless to you who perhaps return with trembling feet evening after evening from a little labor? But it is behind all these things that the renewal takes place, when love and grief are dead; when they loosen their hold on the spirit and it sinks back into itself, looking out on the pitiful plight of those who, like it, are the weary inheritors of so great destinies: then a tenderness which is the most profound quality of its being springs ...
— Imaginations and Reveries • (A.E.) George William Russell

... by Gosse is not strictly Icelandic in motive. Jealousy was not the passion to loosen the tongue of the sagaman, and in so far as that is the theme of "King Erik," the play is not Old Norse in origin. Christian material, too, has been introduced that gives a modern tinge to the drama, ...
— The Influence of Old Norse Literature on English Literature • Conrad Hjalmar Nordby

... lightning, the awful beast sitting on the "devil's tile" at the tip of the ridge-pole, on the north-east end of the roof. He bade his retainer have a torch of straw and twigs ready to light at a moment's notice, to loosen his blade, and wet its hilt-pin, while he fitted the notch of his best arrow into the silk cord of ...
— Japanese Fairy World - Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan • William Elliot Griffis

... ashy lips move, but the words do not come, And she stands in her whiteness, bewildered and dumb: She turns to the letter with hopeless appeal, But her fingers are helpless to loosen the seal: She lifts her dim eyes with a look of despair,— Her hands for a moment are folded in prayer; The strength she has sought is vouchsafed in her need: —"I think I can bear ...
— Beechenbrook - A Rhyme of the War • Margaret J. Preston

... tightest lass, that with untutor'd air E'er footed ale-house floor at wake or fair, Since Easter last had Robin's heart possest, And many a time disturb'd his nightly rest. Full oft' returning from the loosen'd plough, He slack'd his pace, and knit his thoughtful brow; And oft' ere half his thresher's talk was o'er, Would muse, with arms across, at cooling door: His mind thus bent, with downcast eyes he stood, And leant upon his flail in thoughtful ...
— Poems, &c. (1790) • Joanna Baillie

... made him loosen his grasp and crane back to see her face. Gyp detached his arms from her completely, sat down on an old oak chest, and motioned him to the window-seat. Her heart thumped pitifully; cold waves of almost physical sickness passed through and ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... despairing of any chance to loosen the rusted valve, Larry came back on the run, carrying a coal-pick handle. He thrust it between ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1917 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various

... a sight, Mun Bun!" cried his father, as he came to the side of the little boy and began pulling him out. And Mun Bun was stuck so fast in the mud that Mr. Bunker had to pull quite hard to loosen him. And when Mun Bun came up, his legs and feet making a funny, sucking sound as they were pulled out, he was covered with mud and water from his toes to his waist. Mud was splashed up on his face, too, and his hands—well, they didn't look like hands at all! They were just "gobs ...
— Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Fred's • Laura Lee Hope

... is unconceived by men. God must reveal it in the light that breaks forth from him. And this he will do in his own good time. It is already clear to us that, in order to any further progress in this direction, it was necessary for a new movement to begin that should loosen the joints of despotism and emancipate the mind of the world. And in order to this a new republic must be planted and have time to grow. It must be seen rising up in the strong majesty of freedom and youth, outstripping the old prescriptive world in enterprise and the race ...
— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 7 • Various

... back him, that speech favored digestion. Mademoiselle Gamard, who believed in this hygienic doctrine, had not as yet refrained, in spite of their coolness, from talking at meals; though, for the last few mornings, the vicar had been forced to strain his mind to find beguiling topics on which to loosen her tongue. If the narrow limits of this history permitted us to report even one of the conversations which often brought a bitter and sarcastic smile to the lips of the Abbe Troubert, it would offer a finished picture of the ...
— The Celibates - Includes: Pierrette, The Vicar of Tours, and The Two Brothers • Honore de Balzac

... uppermost. Placing his knee on the breast of the Spaniard, Tarfe drew his dagger and brandished it above his throat. Terror filled the Christian ranks; a shout of triumph rose from those of the Moors. But suddenly Tarfe was seen to loosen his grasp and roll over in the dust. Garcilasso had shortened his sword and, as Tarfe raised his arm, had struck him ...
— Historical Tales - The Romance of Reality - Volume VII • Charles Morris

... horrible, and so great was the strain upon his mind as well as muscles that for a moment he found himself thinking whether it would not be a relief to loosen his hold ...
— Son Philip • George Manville Fenn

... pushed here and there, but the lumber was too heavy for him to move. Then he happened to think that if he did move one board it might loosen others which would ...
— The Bobbsey Twins at Home • Laura Lee Hope

... Pulled wool is wool from the pelts[10] as they come from the slaughter-houses of large packing plants. These pelts are thrown into vats of water and left to soak for twenty-four hours to loosen the dirt which has become matted into the wool. From these vats the pelts are taken to scrubbing machines from which the wool issues perfectly clean and white. The pelts are next freed from any particles of flesh or fat ...
— Textiles • William H. Dooley

... "hidebound." His house he had never had time to complete. The rafters were unobstructed by ceiling, so she was favorably situated for treatment. He fixed a lasso under her arms, threw the end around a rafter, and proceeded to loosen ...
— A Backward Glance at Eighty • Charles A. Murdock

... of my own, and pressing business too, but who can refuse the Beloved Object anything? I told the coachman to drive to the Place Dauphine, and I prepared to loosen my purse-strings, as I had a feeling she was going to treat me as a friend. In point of fact she left few shops unvisited, going from jewels to pretty trifles and toys of different kinds, and from these to dresses of the latest fashion, which they displayed before her, addressing her as princess, ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

... he got it. Just here the brook was at its widest and deepest, and it came so near the road that in shying Sultan had entered it so far that the front wheels of the phaeton nearly touched the water. Standing more than fetlock deep in this cool stream, it is no wonder that Sultan wanted some one to loosen his check-rein ...
— The Squirrel Inn • Frank R. Stockton

... he knew She slept: his clothes he in a bundle ties, Nor other raiment on his body threw. Then issuing forth from the pavilion hies, As if on new-born wings, towards his crew; Who, roused, unmoor without a cry, as he Commands, and loosen ...
— Orlando Furioso • Lodovico Ariosto

... closer scrutiny of religious origins is unquestionably a matter of great importance to the community; for society has been built and cemented to a great extent on a foundation of religion, and it is impossible to loosen the cement and shake the foundation without endangering the superstructure. The candid historian of religion will not dissemble the danger incidental to his enquiries, but nevertheless it is his duty to prosecute them unflinchingly. Come ...
— The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3) • Sir James George Frazer

... think of me, Henry?" she whispered, pulling at his grasp, which grew firmer as she tried to loosen it. "I"—and then she raised her eyes, which were suffused with tears. "Oh! it seems such horrid waste for you to be sick with grief for Sabine, who is happy now—and that only ...
— The Man and the Moment • Elinor Glyn

... but they flew to their arms and made a stout resistance. Some were cut down—others were hove overboard—the cables were cut—our men flew aloft to loosen sails, and as quickly almost as I take to tell the story the ship was under weigh and standing out of the harbour. The other three boats were not so fortunate. The noise we made in attacking the first ...
— Will Weatherhelm - The Yarn of an Old Sailor • W.H.G. Kingston

... are partly right and partly wrong, my friend. Women love trifling discourse, though they like to have most of it to themselves. Now you know I'm a man that do not loosen my tongue at every giddy thought; and yet there were days when I could see that Mabel's mother thought none the worse of me because I descended a little from my manhood. It is true, I was twenty-two years ...
— The Pathfinder - The Inland Sea • James Fenimore Cooper

... ten tiny projections around the middle of the cup. Looking within, you find that each of these is a little red hollow made to receive the crimson tip of a curving anther, cunningly bent like a spring, so that the least touch may loosen it and scatter the pollen. There is no flower in the world more exquisitely fashioned than this. It is the emblem of a rustic maid in the sweet ...
— Days Off - And Other Digressions • Henry Van Dyke

... again, and the last brace of shafts did their work to admiration. They did not kill the grisly nor even loosen the gripe of that great forearm and claw upon the rock, but the next struggle of the bear brought him upon smooth stone, gently rounding. He reached out over it with his wounded limb, and the black hooks at the end ...
— Two Arrows - A Story of Red and White • William O. Stoddard

... pulling back his steed, and a graceful figure of a lady wearing the riding-dress of 1830. A painful contrast is presented by the doomed horse unwillingly carrying a lion whose dreadful grip his frantic rearing cannot loosen. In addition there are many studies of horses, various in breed and attitude, and the small wax model of a young man mastering a horse which though but a rough "first sketch" has all the "go and fire" possible. It would have been of interest ...
— The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, Jan-Mar, 1890 • Various

... certain, they would be seen, the captain and crew alarmed before they could get aboard, and, with so weak an attacking party, they would be at a terrible disadvantage. So hesitating no longer than to give himself time to loosen his dirk in its sheath, he leaned forward once more, and in a low, ...
— The Black Bar • George Manville Fenn

... strings that tied him to the broomstick bar beginning to loosen. The Calico Clown shut his eyes, thinking that if he did not see the green grass whirling around beneath him he would not feel so dizzy. Around and around he went in the ...
— The Story of Calico Clown • Laura Lee Hope

... purposes of a society should be to try to arrange for a "continuous supply of work at all times and seasons." Bountiful nature in the great storehouse of the earth has provided a "continuous supply of work" for the whole human race for all future ages. Make monopoly, by taxation, loosen her grip upon the earth, and labor would have abundant opportunity for all time to come without the necessity for paternal, socialistic tinkering on the part of either State ...
— The Arena - Volume 4, No. 22, September, 1891 • Various

... elongated transversely at first, become nearly isodiametric as the pileus becomes fully expanded, passing from an elongated form to rectangular, or sinuous in outline, the margin more or less upturned, especially in age, when they begin to loosen and "peel" from the surface of the cap. They are lighter in color than the pileus and I have never observed the yellow tint in them. The gills are white, broad at the middle, about 1 cm., and taper gradually toward each end. The spores are usually inequilaterally oval, 8—10 x ...
— Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. • George Francis Atkinson

... battled with the demon fever which was gnawing at the vitals of her beloved George. At intervals her care seemed to get the better of the disorder, and to cause it to loosen its grip. But, alas! after twenty-four hours of unceasing toil and anxiety, poor devoted Agnes was forced to endure the mental agony of seeing Harkness die. The last thing he did was to smile up in her yearning face, and try to thank her for all she had ...
— Angel Agnes - The Heroine of the Yellow Fever Plague in Shreveport • Wesley Bradshaw

... One at a time the overseer would loosen the chains, and lead them from the jail to cut them with powerful blows from the lash, then drag them back to be chained until the next day when more lickings were given ...
— Slave Narratives, Oklahoma - A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From - Interviews with Former Slaves • Various

... up with a magnificent spray of coral. They hung to the side of the boat until they could get their breath, then repeated the performance. In the meantime, the mate had sent his two divers below to loosen the coral; with the result that when both boats returned to the Maggie II at noon Captain Scraggs fairly gurgled with delight at the results of the morning's work, and Mr. Gibney declared that his headache ...
— Captain Scraggs - or, The Green-Pea Pirates • Peter B. Kyne

... kind of plant which needs to be repotted in order to make it flower at its very best. Events kept tugging to loosen his tendrils from his early environments. People who live on Boston Bay like to remain there. We have all heard of the good woman who died and went to Heaven, and after a short sojourn there was asked how she liked it, and she sighed ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 7 - Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Orators • Elbert Hubbard

... next world, but I will make you suffer in this one," answered the servant and he began to loosen the ropes. ...
— Stories to Read or Tell from Fairy Tales and Folklore • Laure Claire Foucher

... then, that we understand the meaning of ransom; hence we here define it. Ransom means something to loosen with; that is, a redemptive price. It is the means or price or value which can be used in loosening or releasing something that is in bondage or in restraint or imprisoned. Necessarily the ransom price must be exactly equivalent to, or corresponding with, that ...
— The Harp of God • J. F. Rutherford

... Heyst. Not one of us—with the probable exception of Morrison, who was dead—had ever heard so much of his history. It looks as if the experience of hermit life had the power to loosen ...
— Victory • Joseph Conrad

... hit so vehemently that it splintered all to bits, and still the dog would not leave its victim. Then, in her desperation, she hit on the right remedy; with great difficulty she managed to grasp him by the throat, and, using all her force, so nearly suffocated him that he was obliged to loosen his hold. At that moment, too, a strong man rushed forward and dealt him such a blow that he bounded off with a yell of pain, and ran howling down the street. Erica bent over the fox terrier then; the big dog had mangled it frightfully, it was covered with ...
— We Two • Edna Lyall

... compassion towards thee. I do not desire to afflict an enlightened person like thee by keeping him in an enchained condition. Abstention from injury is the highest religion. I feel compassion towards thee. These nooses of Varuna, with which thou hast been bound, will loosen Time's course in consequence of the misconduct of men. Blessed be thou, O great Asura! When the daughter-in-law will set the aged mother-in-law to work, when the son, through delusion, will command the sire to work for him, when Sudras will have their feet washed ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 - Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 • Unknown

... been asked what she and Judith had been talking of, she could not have told; but when, after the second movement was finished, old Reinhardt put down his violin and began to loosen his bow (he never played the presto finale), it all came back to the girl as she looked around her at her father's guests. She hated the way the young men's Adam's apples showed through their too-widely opened collars, and she loathed the way the thin ...
— The Bent Twig • Dorothy Canfield

... the sorrow, she must loosen it from her. The tragedy she has witnessed must enact itself once more for Euthykles and her, he writing as she dictates. It will have for prologue a second adventure of her own, which he also has witnessed; and this adventure will constitute the book. It is prefaced ...
— A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.) • Mrs. Sutherland Orr

... very difficult to extract any information from them with regard to the superphysical. At first they invariably deny their belief in spirits, and it is only by dint of the utmost persuasion unaccompanied by any air of patronage—which the Celtic peasant detests—that one is finally able to loosen their tongues as to uncanny occurrences, hauntings, and rumours of hauntings, in their neighbourhood. In eliciting information of this nature, I have, I think, by reason of my tactful manner, often succeeded where others ...
— Werwolves • Elliott O'Donnell

... you think the sight of a diamond in a tooth would pall after a while? or perhaps you might loosen it with a bit of biscuit, and swallow it. A diet of diamonds would pall, too, ...
— The Tale of Timber Town • Alfred Grace

... wise that the knots came in the middle of the tape, and to make untying them absolutely impossible, I drew the two ends of the long ribbon back under the psychic's chair and tacked them securely to the shelf of a bookcase about two feet from the hind legs. To loosen them was entirely ...
— The Shadow World • Hamlin Garland

... Many Woodbridge people had good cause to know the generosity of the man as well as ever Posh had cause to know it. FitzGerald may not have opened his heart to his Woodbridge acquaintance so freely as he did to Posh, but he was always ready to loosen ...
— Edward FitzGerald and "Posh" - "Herring Merchants" • James Blyth

... meet each other, but hills will never meet), said Ruairidh Mor a Chnuic, who, on this occasion, found himself in the Oak Chair. "Very true," said the next man to the left. "Cuiridh an teanga snaim nach t-fhuasgail an fhiacaill"—(The tongue will tie a knot which the tooth cannot loosen). "Let some one give us a story." "Cha robh sgialach nach robh briagach"—(He who is a good story-teller is also a good retailer of lies), says Callum a Ghlinne, or Malcolm of the Glen, an excellent story-teller when he liked. "I'll give you ...
— The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1875 • Various

... saw him as he rose. Blue-feather was dragging a piece of the string which he could not loosen from his leg. The hawk was about to seize him. It seemed as if there was no help for him. But just at that moment an eagle caught the hawk and carried ...
— Fifty Fabulous Fables • Lida Brown McMurry

... levels and use piecemeal decrees to raise consumption taxes to a level consistent with inflation. The conservative opposition Popular Party, now in power after ending 13 years of Socialist rule in the spring of 1996, has promised to cut government spending, loosen regulations on financial markets, and lower taxes to spur job creation. The conservatives have stated support for Spain's role in the EU but also have cautioned against harming Spain's economy by moving too quickly to meet ...
— The 1996 CIA Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... to shake hands. Simon watchfully consented. His hand was grasped, the grip instantly fastened upon it, would not loosen—"Tarnation! Let go, I tell you!" growled Simon, and with his other ...
— Boys' Book of Frontier Fighters • Edwin L. Sabin

... to be paid by the ton, I forget how much, but it was very little, and we lost no time in getting to work. We had to dig away the coal at the floor with our picks, lying on our knees to do it, and afterward drive wedges under the roof to loosen the mass. It was hard work, and, entirely inexperienced as we were, we ...
— Analyzing Character • Katherine M. H. Blackford and Arthur Newcomb

... They've gone up there to loosen some of the stones and block the way, so as to put an end to any one coming down; or else to ...
— Cormorant Crag - A Tale of the Smuggling Days • George Manville Fenn

... of his cousin were put into the scale he was completely done for, and, turning quite reckless of the consequences, he let the scale containing duty fly up into the air, and jumped into the other with his cousins, and away they ran to loosen Dick. But this was easier said than done, for Dick could see at a glance that there was mischief afoot, and nearly ran mad with delight: he barked, he leaped, he tore at his chain, he tugged so that Harry could not unbuckle his collar; and when at last ...
— Hollowdell Grange - Holiday Hours in a Country Home • George Manville Fenn

... did the maiden loosen the hawk from off her wrist than it soared upward toward the bright ...
— Stories of Siegfried - Told to the Children • Mary MacGregor

... turned toward the city. Gallegher opened the big gate noiselessly, and worked nervously at the hitching strap. The knot was covered with a thin coating of ice, and it was several minutes before he could loosen it. But his teeth finally pulled it apart, and with the reins in his hands he sprang upon the wheel. And as he stood so, a shock of fear ran down his back like an electric current, his breath left him, and he stood immovable, gazing ...
— Gallegher and Other Stories • Richard Harding Davis

... Common-sense so scurvily in his Presence. However, if this was a Fault, it is arrogant for any of his Subjects to object to it, since it would look like defying such a piece of Indulgence. He must in some degree loosen the Strength of his Wit, by his Condescension to talk with Men so very unequal to him. Wit must be used to some Equality, which may give it Exercise, or else it is apt either to languish, or to grow a little vulgar, by reigning amongst Men of a lower Size, where there is no Awe to keep ...
— Characters from 17th Century Histories and Chronicles • Various

... from the roots. Gently loosening the soil with the sharpened stick will hasten this work. In this way carefully expose the roots along the side of the hole, tracing them as far as possible laterally and as deep as possible, taking care to loosen them as little as possible from their natural position. (See Figs. 8 and 9.) Having exposed the roots of one kind of plant to a width and depth of five or six feet, expose the roots of six or eight plants of different kinds to a depth of about eighteen inches. ...
— The First Book of Farming • Charles L. Goodrich

... of the older Greeks, Socrates maintains a becoming prudence; he is evidently desirous to avoid every thing which would tend to loosen the popular reverence for divine things.[879] But he was opposed to all anthropomorphic conceptions of the Deity. His fundamental position was that the Deity is the Supreme Reason, which is to be honored by men as the source of all existence and the end of all human ...
— Christianity and Greek Philosophy • Benjamin Franklin Cocker

... he sprung from the floor, "take the bar while I move a stone from the side with the crow. We won't take it right out, lest the jailer should notice it if he comes with the breakfast; but we'll loosen it so that we can remove it quickly when necessary, as the window is too narrow ...
— Journeys Through Bookland - Volume Four • Charles H. Sylvester

... nature's plan and specification, and absolutely perfect. He is called into this room for the purpose of comparing engines that have been strained from being thrown off the track, or run against other bodies with such force as to bend journals, pipes, break or loosen bolts; or otherwise deranged, so as to render it useless until repaired. To repair signifies to readjust from the abnormal condition in which the machinist finds it, to the condition of the normal engines which stand in the shop of repairs. His inspection would commence by first lining ...
— Philosophy of Osteopathy • Andrew T. Still

... "it makes not the least difference, Don Teodor, if you are a clergyman or any thing else; it is the law of our church; and when confession is over, a man's soul is easier under canvas, even if there's no regular padre at hand to loosen the ropes, and let one's sins fly to the four winds of heaven. ...
— Captain Canot - or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver • Brantz Mayer

... all he had overheard the preceding evening, and then he unfolded his plan, for Charlie's destruction, but tried to impress on the old man that he had better loosen the rope himself. ...
— Legend of Moulin Huet • Lizzie A. Freeth

... his, and his grasp tightened as though nothing should loosen it; but some thousands of miles away Captain Flower, from the deck of a whaler, was anxiously scanning the horizon in search of the sail which was to ...
— A Master Of Craft • W. W. Jacobs

... start of pleasure, that seemed to loosen still more his support, crying out, "The drummer! Cousin ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XII. July, 1863, No. LXIX. - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... clamped about fifteen inches apart, as spoken of before. This is done so that it may be rigid whilst I take one-inch rasp 47, and proceed to level all round the wood to about five-eighths of an inch and five-thirty-seconds of an inch deep. When I get to the ends of the back I loosen the wood, and use the file more freely at the end of the bench. But this is a matter left entirely to the workman. When this is nicely done, I wet a sponge and damp all I have gone over, surface and edge alike, and ...
— Violin Making - 'The Strad' Library, No. IX. • Walter H. Mayson

... extrinsical motives thus far away from justice, fair play, and good faith would be a misfortune under any circumstances, but that at a conjuncture like the present it should befall the men who set up as the moral guides of mankind and wield the power to loosen the fabric of society is indeed a ...
— The Inside Story Of The Peace Conference • Emile Joseph Dillon

... one thing," Beeson reminded him drily. "Humus! Leaves, roots, organic material! Something to loosen up the soil, aerate it. Nothing will ...
— Shepherd of the Planets • Alan Mattox

... Off. Inexperienced workmen frequently pound on the terminals to loosen the cable lugs, or pry on them sufficiently to break off the battery terminals. If the terminals and lugs are kept properly greased, they will come apart easily. A pair of terminal tongs is a very convenient tool. These exert a pressure ...
— The Automobile Storage Battery - Its Care And Repair • O. A. Witte

... furniture as came most readily to hand, and eat as they best could. Hungry men find no difficulty in doing this. For some time the conversation was restricted to a word or two. Soon, however, as appetite began to be appeased, tongues began to loosen. The silence was first broken ...
— The Lighthouse • Robert Ballantyne

... worked his forceps slightly to and fro, to loosen the arrowhead, and then, bearing firmly upon it, drew it out—an ugly, keen piece of nastily barbed iron, with a scrap of the shaft ...
— The Silver Canyon - A Tale of the Western Plains • George Manville Fenn

... a standstill and stepped down to loosen the robes about his mistress and help her alight, if need be. But Towsley had been before him. He had pulled off his hat, thrust it under his arm, and extended his hand toward the lady, to assist her, as courteously and gracefully as ...
— Divided Skates • Evelyn Raymond

... sweet eyes; who could lift and toss and rock them in her strong, soft arms as if they were but flowers and she a summer wind; whose voice was music, and whose black hair was a great soft mantle 'twas their childish delight to coax her to loosen that it might flow about her, billowing, she standing laughing beneath and tossing it over them to hide their smallness under it as beneath a veil. She was their heroine and their young pride, and among themselves they made joyful ...
— His Grace of Osmonde • Frances Hodgson Burnett

... young diplomatist—an old scoundrel in gold spectacles told me that one of the first rules of the game was to appear content with that which you cannot alter. We must apply that rule to this wine. It is our old friend, Chateau la Pompe. It will not hurt you. It will not loosen your tongue, my friend, you ...
— The Vultures • Henry Seton Merriman



Words linked to "Loosen" :   loosening, loose, slack, disentangle, unsnarl, ruffle, slacken, modify, remit, unbend, straighten out, scarify, weaken, unscrew, change, stiffen, alter, fluff



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