free
/friː
/adjective (freer /ˈfriːə/, freest /ˈfriːɪst/)
1Able to act or be done as one wishes; not under the control of another: I have no ambitions other than to have a happy life and be free a free choice...
- We are bound by no established guidelines so we are free to be the kind of teacher we are capable and willing to be.
- We live in a very multicultural society where respect and tolerance are just as important as free speech.
- The people living in a democracy are free, and each citizen can arrange his life privately.
1.1 [with infinitive] Able or permitted to take a specified action: you are free to leave...
- They are free to move and do not need an work permit.
- I've bought the CD, it belongs to me, I'm free to sell it on, throw it out, or give it away.
- If Riley wants to develop open space by more than his allotment, he would be free to buy more development permits on the open market.
Synonyms
able to, in a position to, capable of;
allowed, permitted, unrestricted
1.2(Of a state or its citizens or institutions) subject neither to foreign domination nor to despotic government: a free press...
- Levying that kind of money from free citizens of New Zealand is a serious business.
- The free citizens of Hodge Hill bettered that: only 37 per cent bothered to vote.
- We have to remind every free citizen of this world about our lack of freedom.
Synonyms
independent, self-governing, self-governed, self-ruling, self-legislating, self-determining, self-directing, non-aligned, sovereign, autonomous, autarkic, democratic, emancipated, enfranchised;
self-sufficient
historical manumitted
1.3 historical Not a slave: the poor among the free men joined the slaves against the rich...
- The slave or free status of children was determined by the status of their mother.
- Laurium was one area of Attica where slaves probably outnumbered the free population.
- At the western end is the old burial ground for slaves and free blacks.
1.4 [in names] Denoting an ethnic or political group actively opposing an occupying or invading force, in particular the groups that continued resisting the Germans in the Second World War after the fall of their countries: the Free Dutch, Free Polish, and Free Norwegian fleets...See also Free French.
- The one thing which these rebels did have was an awareness of their legacy as free Americans.
- He was picked up by the free French and was dressed up as a mute Belgian Farmer.
- He is the son of a Free Polish Army soldier who escaped the Nazis in his homeland and made a precarious trek to England to continue the fight.
2 [often as complement] Not or no longer confined or imprisoned: the researchers set the birds free...
- After 17 years of imprisonment they are now free - all that remains is for their names to be cleared.
- Police have made no charges in the case, and Stanford remains free on bail.
- Her sentencing is set for 15 July and she remains free on bail until then.
Synonyms
on the loose, at liberty, at large;
loose, unconfined, unbound, untied, unchained, untethered, unshackled, unfettered, unrestrained, unsecured
2.1Not physically obstructed or fixed: he tried to kick his legs free...
- It turned out that there was a short-circuit when a bolt rattled free and connected with the carbon of the boat.
- He beat on the man's muscular arm, trying to pull himself free as the man opened up the door.
- Violet shrieked, desperately trying to wrench her arm free from his grasp.
Synonyms
unobstructed, unimpeded, unrestricted, unhampered, unlimited, clear, open, unblocked
unattached, unfastened, unsecured, unhitched, untied, uncoupled, not fixed, detached, loose
2.2 Physics (Of power or energy) disengaged or available. See also free energy.He interpreted free heat as the kinetic energy of the particles of the body....
- But as there is no magnetic equivalent of the free electron, this is intuitively impossible.
- In a strong electric field, free electrons can be accelerated onto its inner surface.
2.3 Physics & Chemistry Not bound in an atom, a molecule, or a compound: the atmosphere of that time contained virtually no free oxygen...See also free radical.
- An appreciable amount of carbon dioxide, unlike oxygen, is also free in solution in the plasma.
- Some of the molecules break up and release free acids and other compounds which give the oil a rancid taste.
- The free oxygen then burnt with the graphite core, which then reacted with the hydrogen.
2.4 Linguistics Denoting a linguistic form that can be used in isolation.In other words, the domains in which a pronominal must be free are much more restricted than those in which an anaphor can be bound....
- In Swedish, the indefinite article is a free morpheme, whereas the definite article is a suffix to the noun.
- Bound morphemes have to be attached to a free morpheme, and so cannot be words in their own right.
3Not subject to engagements or obligations: she spent her free time shopping...
- She said she didn't want to see me, that she didn't have time as she only had an hour free and she was doing some shopping.
- The calendar is already packed and finding an extra free week in which to hold a semi-final round has proved impossible.
- He uses his free time to continue the stalled investigation into his partner's death.
Synonyms
unoccupied, not at work, not working, not busy, not tied up, between appointments, off duty, off work, off, on holiday, on leave;
idle, at leisure, with time on one's hands, with time to spare;
available, contactable
3.1(Of a facility or piece of equipment) not occupied or in use: the bathroom was free...
- I often found it difficult to find a free changing room.
- As soon as the bathroom's free I'm having a long hot soak!
- He recently overheard two children in one of the palace's galleries saying to one another that maybe one of the workstations was free now and they could go back to it.
Synonyms
vacant, empty, available, spare, unoccupied, untaken, unfilled, unused, not in use;
uninhabited, tenantless
informal up for grabs
4 (free of/from) Not subject to or affected by (something undesirable): our salsas are free of preservatives...
- Throughout the course of his long life, he remained completely free of heart disease and cancer.
- There is no 100 per cent safe way to keep the country free of the disease.
- In general the entries are free of any serious bias.
Synonyms
unencumbered by, unaffected by, clear of, without, devoid of, lacking in;
exempt from, not liable to, safe from, immune to, relieved of, released from, excused of, exempted from;
rid of
informal sans, minus
5Given or available without charge: free health care...
- Traders have won the first battle in their fight against council plans to introduce charging at a free car park.
- The city has talked about making the service free or charging a relatively low fee.
- Their one-hour performance starts at 3.00 pm and admission is absolutely free.
6Using or expending something without restraint; lavish: she was always free with her money...
- If only he was as free with his tolerance as he is with his mouth he'd have something worth exporting.
- Wonderful to see that she's as free with basic errors as always.
- Why are these girls so free with their kisses and why aren't I on the receiving end?
Synonyms
generous, lavish, liberal, open-handed, unstinting, giving, munificent, bountiful, bounteous, charitable, extravagant, prodigal
6.1Frank or unrestrained in speech, expression, or action: he was free in his talk of revolution...
- Mrs S and I enjoy nothing more than a free and frank exchange of views.
- The argument is that this will stifle free and frank discussion.
- He is someone who doesn't live by any rules and you can clearly see that he's very free in his approach.
Synonyms
easy-going, free and easy, tolerant, liberal, permissive, indulgent, relaxed, casual, informal, unceremonious, unforced, natural, open, frank, spontaneous, uninhibited, artless, ingenuous;
good-humoured, affable, friendly
informal laid-back, unflappable
6.2 archaic Overfamiliar or forward.She spoke and listened to much free talk, such as one never would have thought the lips or ears of Rachel Castlewoods daughter would have uttered or heard....
- Let's just say he's rather free with his hands, if you know what I mean.
- We've all become very free with each other, a bit too free.
Synonyms
impudent, impertinent, disrespectful;
familiar, overfamiliar, over-free, presumptuous, forward, bold, assertive
informal cheeky, cocky, pushy
7(Of literature or music) not observing the normal conventions of style or form.Eliot famously thought that no verse was free, for the poet who wanted to do a good job....
- The style is very free; there are no rhymes.
- The most obvious question here is if free verse is so ‘free’, then what will differentiate it from prose?
7.1(Of a translation) conveying only the broad sense; not literal.When he translates, he does so in a free and racy style which at first surprises and then pleases....
- He also published occasional verses, satires, and a free translation from Virgil.
- These are themes which we are now very familiar with - and the production, with its very colloquial and rather free translation of the original, emphasises them too much in its wish to make the play ‘relevant’ to our times.
8 Sailing (Of the wind) blowing from a favourable direction to the side or aft of a vessel.We had the wind free, a lightish air; but clouds of an inky blackness were beginning to arise, and at times it lightened without thunder....
- As we had the wind free, the booms were run out, and all were aloft.
- We had the wind free, and were on port, so one needed at least two pairs of eyes in each boat!
adverb
1Without cost or payment: ladies were admitted free...
- Those who cannot afford to pay this fee are exempted and treated free of cost.
- I f a unit of electricity cannot be produced free of cost, it should not be given to anybody free of cost.
- The Trust will shortly open a Help Centre in the city to provide counselling for patients free of cost.
2 Sailing With the sheets eased: I kept her off the wind and sailing free until I had all square forward...
- Evans calculated the tides perfectly once again, and we had the benefit of three knots free while we raced around the famous headland.
- Make sure the sheets and halyards are clear and ready to run free as needed.
verb (frees, freeing, freed) [with object]
1Release from confinement or slavery: they were freed from jail...
- After she is freed from slavery, she becomes a teacher, writer, and activist for the black race and for women's rights.
- Nine hostages were freed from the building earlier yesterday.
- The truth is that a hostage was not freed by the kidnappers.
Synonyms
release, liberate, discharge, emancipate, set free, let go, set at liberty, set loose, let loose, turn loose, deliver;
untie, unchain, unfetter, unshackle, unmanacle, uncage, unleash;
spare, pardon, reprieve, clear
informal let off, let off the hook
literary disenthral
historical manumit
1.1Release from physical obstruction or restraint: I had to tug hard and at last freed him she struggled to free herself from the tenacious mud...
- Passers-by came to the guard's aid and freed him from his restraints.
- They were at the scene for 90 minutes, helping to free the victims and clear the road.
- The powerful one frees himself and unties the bonds of everyone else.
Synonyms
extricate, extract, disentangle, disentwine, disengage, disencumber, loosen, release, remove, get out, pull out, pull free, get loose, get free;
rescue, set free
2Remove something undesirable or restrictive from: his inheritance freed him from financial constraints free your body of excess tension...
- Already the move, which frees the club from restrictive rules, has paid dividends, explained Mr Collins.
- The FCC is, in effect, holding out the possibility of freeing the networks from restrictions on buying up more stations.
- Diabetics could have their lives dramatically transformed by a new approach, developed in Yorkshire, freeing them of restrictions on their diet.
Synonyms
exempt, make exempt, except, excuse, absolve;
relieve of, absolve of, unburden of, disburden of;
strip of
rare dispense from
3Make available for a particular purpose: we are freeing management time for alternative work...
- In the process, space alongside the line once occupied by cartons of assembly parts has been freed for other purposes.
- The primary purpose of the serviced land initiative is to free up land for development.
- This would free up time for doctors to deal with more serious things.
Phrases
for free
free and easy
free, gratis, and for nothing
a free hand
free on board (or rail)
(a) free rein
a free ride
the free world
it's a free country
make free with
run free
walk free
Derivatives
freeness
- Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
- Some of these incidents allegedly prevented persons from exercising their constitutional right to vote and have accordingly impacted on the freeness and fairness of the election.
- I really like the freeness of being single.
Origin
Old English frēo (adjective), frēon (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vrij and German frei, from an Indo-European root meaning 'to love', shared by friend.
The adjective free appears in the writings of King Alfred (reigned 871–99) and comes from an ancient root meaning ‘to love’, from which we also get friend. Freedom is also Old English. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) wrote, ‘Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains’, while in the 1960s TV series The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan cried ‘I am not a number, I am a free man!’ We now use freelance (early 19th century) as a term for a self-employed person working for a number of different companies, but in the early 19th century it was written as two words, and used to describe a medieval knight who offered his services as a mercenary. Freemasons (Late Middle English) were originally skilled workers in stone who travelled to find employment and had a system of secret signs and passwords that gained them access to work on important building projects. In the 17th century they began to admit honorary members, and membership of their societies or ‘lodges’ became a fashionable status symbol.