free
/fri:/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Not under the control or in the power of another; able to act or be done as one wishes: The state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint.
- Not physically restrained, obstructed, or fixed: Able to move without restriction.
- Given or available without charge: Costing no money.
- Not occupied or in use: Available for someone to use.
- Not bound by convention or the rules of form: Not literal or exact.
Verb:
- To release from captivity, confinement, or slavery: To grant liberty.
- To relieve from something that burdens, confines, or restricts: To remove an obstruction or obligation.
- To make available: To release or relinquish.
Adverb:
- Without cost or payment: At no charge.
- In a free manner: Without restraint or obstruction.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- She felt free to express her opinion. (She was able to express her opinion without restriction.)
- The bird was free after we opened the cage. (The bird was no longer confined.)
- The museum offers free admission on Sundays. (Entry to the museum costs nothing on Sundays.)
- Is this seat free? (Is this seat unoccupied?)
- It's a free translation, not a word-for-word one. (The translation is not literal.)
Verb:
- The activists worked to free the political prisoners. (They worked to release the prisoners from confinement.)
- He tried to free the rope that was caught on the branch. (He tried to release the rope from the branch.)
- The company will free more resources for the project. (The company will make more resources available.)
Adverb:
- Children under five can travel free. (They can travel without payment.)
- The door swung free on its hinges. (The door moved without obstruction.)
Advanced Usage
"Free and easy": Relaxed and informal in manner.
- The atmosphere at the beach house was very free and easy.
"Free from/of": Not subject to or affected by something undesirable.
- She wanted a life free from worry.
- The drink is free of artificial preservatives.
"To give someone a free hand": To give someone complete freedom to act.
- The manager gave her a free hand to redesign the website.
Variants and Related Words
Freely (adverb): In a free manner; without restriction.
- Information flows freely on the internet.
Freedom (noun): The power or right to act, speak, or think without hindrance.
- They fought for their freedom.
Freelance (adjective/adverb/verb/noun): Working for different companies on particular assignments, not as a permanent employee.
- He works as a freelance journalist.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Unrestricted, liberated, complimentary, vacant, loose.
- Verb: Liberate, release, untie, clear, exempt.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Free up: To make something available for use by removing restrictions or other uses.
- We need to free up some time to discuss this.
Free from/of: To remove something unpleasant or unwanted from a person or thing.
- The treatment freed him from pain.
Related Idioms
"Feel free": Used to give permission in a polite way.
- Feel free to ask any questions.
"For free": Without any cost or payment (informal).
- They were giving away samples for free.
"Home of the free": A phrase, often from a national anthem, symbolizing a country that values liberty.
- America is often called the land of the free.
Adverb
- without restraint
- cows in India are running loose
Noun
- people who are free
- the home of the free and the brave
Verb
- make (assets) available
- release the holdings in the dictator's bank account
- release (gas or energy) as a result of a chemical reaction or physical decomposition
- part with a possession or right
- I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest
- resign a claim to the throne
- let off the hook
- I absolve you from this responsibility
- free or remove obstruction from
- free a path across the cluttered floor
- free from obligations or duties
- make (information) available for publication
- release the list with the names of the prisoners
- grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to
- She exempted me from the exam
- remove or force out from a position
- The dentist dislodged the piece of food that had been stuck under my gums
- He finally could free the legs of the earthquake victim who was buried in the rubble
- relieve from
- Rid the house of pests
- grant freedom to; free from confinement
Adjective
- not literal
- a loose interpretation of what she had been told
- a free translation of the poem
- completely wanting or lacking
- writing barren of insight
- young recruits destitute of experience
- innocent of literary merit
- the sentence was devoid of meaning
- not taken up by scheduled activities
- a free hour between classes
- spare time on my hands
- not held in servitude
- after the Civil War he was a free man
- not fixed in position
- the detached shutter fell on him
- he pulled his arm free and ran
- not occupied or in use
- a free locker
- a free lane
- costing nothing
- complimentary tickets
- free admission
- unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion
- free expansion
- free oxygen
- a free electron
- able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint
- free enterprise
- a free port
- a free country
- I have an hour free
- free will
- free of racism
- feel free to stay as long as you wish
- a free choice