losing a loved one
- noun
- When you experience the pain of losing a loved one, it can feel overwhelming.
- family who lost a loved one
- people who lost a loved one
- pain of losing a loved one
Examples
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That's the case for one Pittsburgh family who lost a loved one in 2010 due to an electrocution accident.
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My deepest condolences to the family and friends who have lost a loved one way too soon.
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Terrible thing, to lose a loved one.
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I know how it feels to lose a loved one to drugs.
Fiction book (1992) -
We know people who are losing or have recently lost a loved one.
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And, you know, my hat's off and my heart open to those who have lost a loved one who was in service to our country.
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Sorry to hear of this tragedy, I know what it is like to lose a loved one.
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Any adult over the age of 60 who has lost a loved one in the past three years is encouraged to attend.
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My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering.
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Although it was painful to lose a loved one, Mario's family remembers and honors their lost son.
Blog text (24)
Synonyms
The death of someone close to you
Deep sadness after you lose someone or something important
A period of deep sadness after someone close dies
How Painful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'lose' (to experience loss) combined with 'a loved one' (a person you deeply care about); together they straightforwardly indicate losing someone close, typically through death. This is a compositional, cross-linguistically common phrasing rather than an idiom, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Losing a loved one uses the everyday image of losing something precious: imagine a loved one walking away or being taken from you. That's why the phrase means 'someone close dying' and the deep sadness that follows.