Noun

Singular loss

Plural losses

loss (plural losses)

1. An instance of losing, such as a defeat

   The match ended in their first loss of the season.

2. Something that is lost

   It was written off as a loss.

3. The hurtful condition of having lost something or someone

   We mourn his loss.

4. (plural) Casualties, especially physically eliminated victims of violent conflict

   The battle was won, but losses were great.

5. (financial) The sum an entity loses on balance.
6. The sum of expenditures and taxes minus total income is a loss, when this difference is positive.
7. Destruction, ruin

   It was a terrible crash: both cars were total losses

8. (engineering) Elecrical of kinetic power expended without doing useful work.

   The inefficency of many old-fashioned power plants exceeds 60% loss before the subsequent losses during transport over the grid

Loss may refer to:

• A negative difference between retail price and cost of production
• An event in which the team or individual in question did not win.
• Loss (baseball), a pitching statistic in baseball
• Attenuation, a reduction in amplitude and intensity of a signal
• In telecommunications, loss is a decrease in signal in a communications system:
  • Angular misalignment loss, power loss caused by the deviation from optimum angular alignment
  • Bridging loss, the loss that results when an impedance is connected across a transmission line
  • Coupling loss, the loss that occurs when energy is transferred from one circuit, optical device, or medium to another
  • Insertion loss, the decrease in transmitted signal power resulting from the insertion of a device in a transmission line or optical fiber
  • Path loss, the attenuation undergone by an electromagnetic wave in transit from a transmitter to a receiver
    • Free-space path loss, the loss in signal strength that would result if all influences were sufficiently removed having no effect on its propagation
  • Return loss, the ratio of the amplitude of the reflected wave to the amplitude of the incident wave
• Round-trip loss in laser physics refers to energy lost due to scattering or absorption
• Loss function, in statistics, a function representing the cost associated with an event

In the arts:

• Loss (film), a 2008 film by Maris Martinsons.
• Joe Loss, the founder of The Joe Loss Orchestra
• Loss (album), the debut album of Mull Historical Society
• Loss (album), the sixth studio album of Bass Communion
• Loss (comics), a mutant comic book character
• Lord Loss (character), the Demon Lord from Darren Shan's 10 book series The Demonata
• "The Loss", a fourth-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation