"at loose ends" meaning in English

See at loose ends in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: en-au-at loose ends.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} at loose ends, {{en-prep phrase}} at loose ends
  1. (US, Canada) Without any activity or purpose. Tags: Canada, US
    Sense id: en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-x-y00LNN Categories (other): American English, Canadian English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 44 6 50 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 45 2 53
  2. (idiomatic) In an uncertain position or situation. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-2jAjVllO
  3. Not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed.
    Sense id: en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-rWTbELC- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 44 6 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 39 2 59 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 45 2 53
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: at a loose end, between a rock and a hard place
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
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      "expansion": "at loose ends",
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    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "at loose ends",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "47 5 48",
      "word": "at a loose end"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "47 5 48",
      "word": "between a rock and a hard place"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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          "_dis": "44 6 50",
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          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "45 2 53",
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          "parents": [],
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Without any activity or purpose."
      ],
      "id": "en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-x-y00LNN",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Without any activity or purpose."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I am really at loose ends about this choice; I am between the proverbial rock and hard place.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In an uncertain position or situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-2jAjVllO",
      "links": [
        [
          "uncertain",
          "uncertain"
        ],
        [
          "position",
          "position"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In an uncertain position or situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 6 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 2 59",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 2 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed."
      ],
      "id": "en-at_loose_ends-en-prep_phrase-rWTbELC-"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-at loose ends.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a5/En-au-at_loose_ends.ogg/En-au-at_loose_ends.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/En-au-at_loose_ends.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "at loose ends"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "at a loose end"
    },
    {
      "word": "between a rock and a hard place"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Without any activity or purpose."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Without any activity or purpose."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I am really at loose ends about this choice; I am between the proverbial rock and hard place.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In an uncertain position or situation."
      ],
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        [
          "uncertain",
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        ],
        [
          "position",
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        ],
        [
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In an uncertain position or situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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      "glosses": [
        "Not in order; in confusion; carelessly managed."
      ]
    }
  ],
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}

Download raw JSONL data for at loose ends meaning in English (1.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.