losses

Everyday

1. (euphemism, official) soldiers or people killed (and sometimes wounded) in war or a disaster. tree →
2. money a business loses; the opposite of profits. tree →
3. (literal) games lost, or things lost. tree →

In the lessons

Military reports and the news use it to talk about deaths in war without saying «killed». In business and sport, it is a normal word. Register: official, news; all regions.

Examples

• News: The army suffered heavy losses in the battle. tree →
• The town counted its losses after the flood. tree →
• The company made losses of two million pounds. tree →
• The team has three wins and two losses. tree →
• Maths: If income is £500 and costs are £700, the loss is £200. tree →
• Chat: «heavy losses» in war news = lots of soldiers died tree →
• He had heavy losses in business, and several times some affairs went wrong with his neighbors. tree →

Note

In war news it often means deaths; in business it means money; in sport it means games lost. In maths, a loss is a negative result: costs minus income. Plain words (war): people killed.