Your English: Collocations: lose

A number of nouns that collocate with lose refer to parts of the human body, the senses or the mind. You can lose consciousness (become unconscious), lose your memory or lose your mind (become crazy and start behaving in a strange way). For a short period of time you might lose your voice, as a result of a cold, for example, but more serious conditions might cause people to lose their sight or lose their hearing (become blind or deaf).

You can also lose your head (become so upset that you stop thinking clearly or behaving in a sensible way). If you lose face, people no longer respect you or are impressed by you because you are not in control of a particular situation. This might be because you have lost your touch (you are not as successful at doing something as you were before) or you have lost sight of your objectives (forgotten what they are). The important thing is not to lose heart (become discouraged) and try not to lose your nerve (become frightened to do something) or lose your temper (suddenly become angry).

In the final analysis, you may have lost the battle but won the war (not achieved a minor victory but at the same time succeeded in achieving something much more important). Whatever happens, don't lose any sleep over it (let it worry or upset you) or lose your rag (become very angry). If you do, you might end up losing your marbles (going completely crazy).