loose Copy link Outline I. To render loose, slacken.1. laxo, 12. rĕmitto, 3II. To unfasten1. solvo, vi, ūtum, 32. laxo, 1 (rare in this sense)3. rĕfīgo, 3 • loose, loosen (v.): I. To render loose, slacken. 1. laxo, 1: to loosen reins, frenos (habenas) l., Lucan 7, 125: cf. Virg. G. 2, 331, laxant arva sinus, of the stiff soil loosening itself before the genial breath of spring: v. to widen. So relaxo. cf. Cic. N. D. 2, 55, 138, where se relaxare is opp. to se astringere. 2. rĕmitto, 3: to tighten or loosen the reins, habenas vel adducere vel r., Cic. Am. 13, 45 Ov. Phr.: to loosen the soil round the roots of a tree, *solum circa radices arboris leniter movere ac sollicitare (cf. Virg. G. 2, 418, sollicitanda tamen tellus pulvisque movendus): to l. the teeth of any one, alicui dentes labefacere, Ter. Ad. 2, 2, 36. II. To unfasten: 1. solvo, vi, ūtum, 3: loose the steed that is growing old, solve senescentem equum, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 8. to loosen a hound, canem s., Phaedr. 3, 7, 20 see also to untie. So rĕsolvo, 3: to loosen girt raiment, cinctas r. vestes, Ov. M. 1, 382: Cat. 2. laxo, 1 (rare in this sense): to loosen knots, nodos l., Lucan 4, 632: but in this sense, relaxo is perh. better: to loosen the fastenings of a tunic, tunicae vincla r., Ov. F. 2, 321: Lucr. 3. rĕfīgo, 3: v. to unfasten.