1.loss的基本意思是“丧失,遗失,损失”,可指能量、热量的丧失,也可指战斗、比赛中“打输”“失败”。还可作经济活动中的“亏本”解。
2.loss作“损失”解时,多用复数形式。
3.loss常跟介词to,表示“对…是个损失”。
4.at a loss的意思是“不知所措”,后面可接“for+n.”, to-v或由疑问词引导的从句结构。

at a loss
1.不知所措 not knowing what to do or say
He found himself at a loss for words of consolation.他简直想不出安慰的话来。
She is at a loss to recollect my name.她一下子记不起我的名字来。
2.亏本 lose money in business
They must sell the goods at a loss.他们必须亏本出售商品。

loss to
对…是一损失 decrease;damage
He's given up his job, it's a great loss to the firm.他放弃了工作,这对于公司来说是个大损失。
Her resignation will be a great loss to the company.她的离职将是这家公司的重大损失。
His death was a great loss to the country.他的逝世对这个国家是一大损失。
The sense of loss we felt at his death was very great.对于我们来说,他的死是个巨大的损失。
It was a great loss to us all.这是我们极大的损失。
It will end in a great financial loss to us.它将造成我们财政上的巨大损失。

throw for a loss
使…惊异不安,使…发愁 not yet recovered from a fright;still badly shaken
▲throw sb for a loss
It threw Jim for a loss when he failed the test.吉姆没能通过考试,他感到很苦恼。

The loss of the last game by their team surprised us.他们队输掉最后一场比赛使我们很吃惊。
She wept bitter tears over the loss of her lover.她为失去了恋人而痛心。
The loss of his wife was a great blow to him.妻子去世对他打击很大。
He was taken ill through grief at the loss of his wife.他因丧妻而悲伤成病。
Blindness is the loss of the sensation of sight.失明就是丧失视觉。
The car was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned as a total loss.汽车损坏严重,只好彻底报废。
The loss of her bike caused her much inconvenience.丢失自行车给她带来了极大的不便。
My brother and I are responsible for the loss.我和我弟弟对这次损失负责。
You are accountable to him for the great loss.你应为此巨大损失对他负责。
The insurance policy guarantees us all from loss.保险单保证我们大家免遭损失。
He is not thoughtful of personal gain and loss.他不顾个人的得失。
The loss of this contract would be very serious.未能签成这一合同关系重大。
Their losses had been enormous.他们的损失巨大。
We must recover our losses somehow.我们必须设法挽回损失。
My losses are nothing to yours.我的损失和你的比起来算不了什么。

下面两个句子的意思相同：
His death was a great loss to the community.
He was a great loss to the community.
他的去世对社区来说是个极大的损失。

［同义词］   deprivation, mislaying, misplacement, misplacing
［词源］  ＜中古英语los(丧失,损失)