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Ammer, Christine. "at a loss." Writer's Reference Center. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 15 Apr. 2025. <http://fofweb.infobase.com/wrc/Detail.aspx?iPin=DOC00084>.
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at a loss

Definition 
To be puzzled or unable to come to a decision. The English clergyman Charles Colton (c. 1780–1832) wrote, "As completely at a loss as a Dutchman without his pipe, a Frenchman without his mistress, an Italian without his fiddle, or an Englishman without his umbrella" (Lacon, Part 2, no. 116). One may also be at a loss for something, most often at a loss for words, meaning that one is rendered speechless.

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