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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

louse up en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaʊs ˈʌp/ (UK)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic) To mess up; to confuse; to put into a state of disorder.
    • The recent flu epidemic that loused up all my plans to see Pat Bond. 1980 April 12, Nancy Walker, “Parents and Friends of Gays”, in Gay Community News, page 12:
    • To be loused up by Humbolt was really a kind of privilege. It was like being the subject of a two-nosed portrait by Picasso, or an eviscerated chicken by Soutine. 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 3:
  2. (US, informal) To mistreat (someone).

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
louses up Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
loused up Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
loused up Tense=Past lexicographic
lousing up Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

lousy

Translations (1)

fi sotkea (to mess up)