Example with a context:
The shooting comes at a tense time. Police in New York are being criticized for their tactics following the chokehold death of Eric Garner, who was stopped by police on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. Amateur video captured an officer wrapping his arm around Garner's neck and wrestling him to the ground. Garner was heard gasping, "I can't breathe" before he loses consciousness and later dies.
What does loose cigarettes really mean?
Best Answer
It means individually sold cigarettes which have been taken out of their pack.
Where I'm from, and I think in much of the US, they sometimes go by looseys and it is illegal to sell them. Some little shops do anyway.