1[intransitiveI, transitiveT]LOOSE to make something less tight or less firmly fastened, or to become less tight or less firmly fastened (使)变松;松开OPP tighten
2[transitiveT]STRICT to make laws, rules etc less strict 放宽〔法律、规定等〕SYN relaxOPP tighten
Congress has loosened the restrictions on immigration.
国会已放宽了移民限制。
3loosen your grip/hold
a)CONTROLto reduce the control or power you have over someone or something 放松〔对…的〕控制[操纵]
loosen your grip/hold on
The government has loosened its hold on the media considerably.
政府已大大放松了对媒体的控制。
b)HOLDto start holding someone or something less tightly than you were before 松开,放开〔手等〕OPP tighten
loosen your grip/hold on
He loosened his grip on David’s arm.
他松开了抓着戴维胳膊的手。
Examples from the Corpus
loosen your grip/hold• I felt a shockcharge through my hand and could not loosen my grip.• The woman jabbed her cigarette into the man's face and he loosened his grip.• When there is none, he loosens his grip and turns away.• He made a chokingnoise, and Marco loosened his grip fractionally.• Instead, he waited until the first fierceflood of tears had passed, then loosened his grip on her a little.• When I loosened my grip on him he tried to run back toward Clarisa, stumbling and crawling.• Richard first noticed me from across the street as he loosened his grip on the lamppost.• It was on a block where he encountered three soldiers that he began to loosen his hold on the sequence.
4.loosen somebody’s tongueTALK TO somebodyto make someone talk more than usual, especially about things they should not talk about 使某人说话不拘束〔尤指说不该说的事〕
Examples from the Corpus
loosen somebody’s tongue• The wineloosened his tongue.
5loosen upphrasal verbphr v
a)RELAXEDto stop worrying and become more relaxed, or to make someone do this (使)无拘无束,(使)放松
She loosened up after she’d had a drink.
一杯酒下肚她便放松了下来。
loosen somebody ↔ up
His welcoming smile helped loosen her up.
他那热情的微笑有助于使她放松下来。
b)DSif your musclesloosen up, or if something loosens them up, they stop feeling stiff (使)〔肌肉〕活动开来,放松
loosen something ↔ up
A massage will loosen up your joints.
按摩可以放松关节。
Examples from the Corpus
loosen up• At first, I just started drinking at parties, to help loosen me up.• UncleBilly was a great preacher -- he sure could loosen a crowd up.• Hey, loosen up! It's not worth getting upset about something she said.• Our dramateacher would do crazy things, just to get us to loosen up some.