Definition

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

1. without restraint
   • cows in India are running loose

Noun

1. people who are free
   • the home of the free and the brave

Verb

1. make (assets) available
   • release the holdings in the dictator's bank account
2. release (gas or energy) as a result of a chemical reaction or physical decomposition
3. part with a possession or right
   • I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest
   • resign a claim to the throne
4. let off the hook
   • I absolve you from this responsibility
5. free or remove obstruction from
   • free a path across the cluttered floor
6. free from obligations or duties
7. make (information) available for publication
   • release the list with the names of the prisoners
8. grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to
   • She exempted me from the exam
9. 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
10. relieve from
    • Rid the house of pests
11. grant freedom to; free from confinement

Adjective

1. not literal
   • a loose interpretation of what she had been told
   • a free translation of the poem
2. completely wanting or lacking
   • writing barren of insight
   • young recruits destitute of experience
   • innocent of literary merit
   • the sentence was devoid of meaning
3. not taken up by scheduled activities
   • a free hour between classes
   • spare time on my hands
4. not held in servitude
   • after the Civil War he was a free man
5. not fixed in position
   • the detached shutter fell on him
   • he pulled his arm free and ran
6. not occupied or in use
   • a free locker
   • a free lane
7. costing nothing
   • complimentary tickets
   • free admission
8. unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion
   • free expansion
   • free oxygen
   • a free electron
9. 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