/los' *j/ The result of a bug or malfunction.This is a mass or collective noun."What a loss!" and "What lossage!"are nearly synonymous.The former is slightly more particular to the speaker' s present circumstancesthe latter implies a continuing lose of which the speaker is currently a victim.Thus (for example) a temporary hardware failure is a loss, but bugs in an important tool (like a compiler) are serious lossage.[Jargon File](1995-04-19)