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AT A LOSS
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Filled with bewilderment
Example:
puzzled that she left without saying goodbye
Synonyms:
at a loss; nonplused; nonplussed; puzzled
Classified under:
Similar:
perplexed (full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Below cost
Example:
sold the car at a loss
Classified under:
Context examples:
Emma was quite at a loss.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
"At Marlborough!"—cried Elinor, more and more at a loss to understand what he would be at.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The two girls were more at a loss from being younger and in greater awe of their father, who addressed them on the occasion with rather an injudicious particularity.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Elizabeth had never been more at a loss to make her feelings appear what they were not.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Then I am quite at a loss.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
He posted on Twitter, "Today we went to the Moon and came back to earth! I am at a loss for words for all the support I have received from all over the world."
(Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya runs marathon under two hours, Wikinews)
“We have retained these things for some days,” said Holmes, “because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I observed by his countenance that he was in some perplexity, and at a loss how to begin what he had to speak.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
But I was determined not to seem at a loss for occupation or amusement: I had brought my drawing materials with me, and they served me for both.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I had never been brought up to any profession, and at first I was at a loss what to do for myself.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
