Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Loose \Loose\, a. [Compar. {Looser}; superl. {Loosest}.] [OE.
   loos, lous, laus, Icel. lauss; akin to OD. loos, D. los, AS.
   le['a]s false, deceitful, G. los, loose, Dan. & Sw. l["o]s,
   Goth. laus, and E. lose. ? See {Lose}, and cf. {Leasing}
   falsehood.]
   1. Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened, fixed,
      or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.

            Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat.
                                                  --Shak.

   2. Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty,
      habit, etc.; -- with from or of.

            Now I stand Loose of my vow; but who knows Cato's
            thoughts ?                            --Addison.

   3. Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.

   4. Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of
      loose texture.

            With horse and chariots ranked in loose array.
                                                  --Milton.

   5. Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose
      style, or way of reasoning.

            The comparison employed . . . must be considered
            rather as a loose analogy than as an exact
            scientific explanation.               --Whewel.

   6. Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to
      some standard of right.

            The loose morality which he had learned. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   7. Unconnected; rambling.

            Vario spends whole mornings in running over loose
            and unconnected pages.                --I. Watts.

   8. Lax; not costive; having lax bowels. --Locke.

   9. Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.

            Loose ladies in delight.              --Spenser.

   10. Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste language;
       as, a loose epistle. -- Dryden.

   {At loose ends}, not in order; in confusion; carelessly
      managed.

   {Fast and loose}. See under {Fast}.

   {To break loose}. See under {Break}.

   {Loose pulley}. (Mach.) See {Fast and loose pulleys}, under
      {Fast}.

   {To let loose}, to free from restraint or confinement; to set
      at liberty.

Pulley \Pul"ley\, n.; pl. {Pulleys}. [F. poulie, perhaps of
   Teutonic origin (cf. {Poll}, v. t.); but cf. OE. poleine,
   polive, pulley, LL. polanus, and F. poulain, properly, a
   colt, fr. L. pullus young animal, foal (cf. {Pullet},
   {Foal}). For the change of sense, cf. F. poutre beam,
   originally, a filly, and E. easel.] (Mach.)
   A wheel with a broad rim, or grooved rim, for transmitting
   power from, or imparting power to, the different parts of
   machinery, or for changing the direction of motion, by means
   of a belt, cord, rope, or chain.

   Note: The pulley, as one of the mechanical powers, consists,
         in its simplest form, of a grooved wheel, called a
         sheave, turning within a movable frame or block, by
         means of a cord or rope attached at one end to a fixed
         point. The force, acting on the free end of the rope,
         is thus doubled, but can move the load through only
         half the space traversed by itself. The rope may also
         pass over a sheave in another block that is fixed. The
         end of the rope may be fastened to the movable block,
         instead of a fixed point, with an additional gain of
         power, and using either one or two sheaves in the fixed
         block. Other sheaves may be added, and the power
         multiplied accordingly. Such an apparatus is called by
         workmen a block and tackle, or a fall and tackle. See
         {Block}. A single fixed pulley gives no increase of
         power, but serves simply for changing the direction of
         motion.

   {Band pulley}, or {Belt pulley}, a pulley with a broad face
      for transmitting power between revolving shafts by means
      of a belt, or for guiding a belt.

   {Cone pulley}. See {Cone pulley}.

   {Conical pulley}, one of a pair of belt pulleys, each in the
      shape of a truncated cone, for varying velocities.

   {Fast pulley}, a pulley firmly attached upon a shaft.

   {Loose pulley}, a pulley loose on a shaft, to interrupt the
      transmission of motion in machinery. See {Fast and loose
      pulleys}, under {Fast}.

   {Parting pulley}, a belt pulley made in semicircular halves,
      which can be bolted together, to facilitate application
      to, or removal from, a shaft.

   {Pulley block}. Same as {Block}, n. 6.

   {Pulley stile} (Arch.), the upright of the window frame into
      which a pulley is fixed and along which the sash slides.
      

   {Split pulley}, a parting pulley.