lose one's way

verb

Roget 279: alter one's course, deviate, depart from, turn, trend; bend, curve etc. 245; swerve, heel, bear off; gybe^†, wear.    intervert^†; deflect; divert, divert from its course; put on a new scent, shift, shunt, draw aside, crook, warp.    stray, straggle; sidle; diverge etc. 291; tralineate^†; digress, wander; wind, twist, meander; veer, tack; divagate; sidetrack; turn aside, turn a corner, turn away from; wheel, steer clear of; ramble, rove, drift; go astray, go adrift; yaw, dodge; step aside, ease off, make way for, shy.    fly off at a tangent; glance off; wheel about, face about; turn to the right about, face to the right about; waddle etc. (oscillate) 314; go out of one's way etc. (perform a circuit) 629; lose one's way.    ... show more

Roget 699: be unskillful etc. adj.; not see an inch beyond one's nose; blunder, bungle, boggle, fumble, botch, bitch, flounder, stumble, trip; hobble etc. 275; put one's foot in it; make a mess of, make hash of, make sad work of; overshoot the mark.    play tricks with, play Puck, mismanage, misconduct, misdirect, misapply, missend.    stultify oneself, make a fool of oneself, commit oneself; act foolishly; play the fool; put oneself out of court; lose control, lose control of oneself, lose one's head, lose one's cunning.    begin at the wrong end; do things by halves etc. (not complete) 730; make two bites of a cherry; play at cross purposes; strain at a gnat and swallow a camel etc. (caprice) 608; put the cart before the horse; lock the stable door when the horse is stolen etc. (too late) 135.    not know what one is about, not know one's own interest, not know on which side one's bread is buttered; stand in one's own light, quarrel with one's bread and butter, throw a stone in one's own garden, kill the goose which lays the golden eggs, pay dear for one's whistle, cut one's own throat, bum one's fingers; knock one's head against a stone wall, beat one's head against a stone wall; fall into a trap, catch a Tartar, bring the house about one's ears; have too many eggs in one basket (imprudent) 863, have too many irons in the fire.    mistake etc. 495; take the shadow for the substance etc. (credulity) 486; bark up the wrong tree; be in the wrong box, aim at a pigeon and kill a crow; take the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear, get the dirty end of the stick; put the saddle on the wrong horse, put a square peg into a round hole, put new wine into old bottles.    cut blocks with a razor; hold a farthing candle to the sun etc. (useless) 645; fight with a shadow, grasp at a shadow; catch at straws, lean on a broken reed, reckon without one's host, pursue a wild goose chase; go on a fool's goose chase, sleeveless errand; go further and fare worse; lose one's way, miss one's way; fail etc. 732.    ... show more

Roget 704: be difficult etc. adj.; run one hard, go against the grain, try one's patience, put one out; put to one's shifts, put to one's wit's end; go hard with one, try one; pose, perplex etc. (uncertain) 475; bother, nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock; be impossible etc. 471; be in the way of etc. (hinder) 706.    meet with difficulties; labor under difficulties; get into difficulties; plunge into difficulties; struggle with difficulties; contend with difficulties; grapple with difficulties; labor under a disadvantage; be in difficulty etc. adj.. fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream, scud under bare poles.    Have much ado with, have a hard time of it; come to the push, come to the pinch; bear the brunt.    grope in the dark, lose one's way, weave a tangled web, walk among eggs.    get into a scrape etc. n.; bring a hornet's nest about one's ears; be put to one's shifts; flounder, boggle, struggle; not know which way to turn etc. (uncertain) 475; perdre son Latin [Fr.]; stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast; come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock; hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail.    render difficult etc. adj.; enmesh, encumber, embarrass, ravel, entangle; put a spoke in the wheel etc. (hinder) 706; lead a pretty dance.    ... show more

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