free
(fr
)
KEY
ADJECTIVE:
freˇer
,
freˇest
- Not imprisoned or enslaved; being at liberty.
- Not controlled by obligation or the will of another:
felt free to go.
-
- Having political independence:
"America . . . is the freest and wealthiest nation in the world"
(Rudolph W. Giuliani).
- Governed by consent and possessing or granting civil liberties:
a free citizenry.
- Not subject to arbitrary interference by a government:
a free press.
-
- Not affected or restricted by a given condition or circumstance:
a healthy animal, free of disease; free from need.
- Not subject to a given condition; exempt:
income that is free of all taxes.
- Not subject to external restraint:
"Comment is free but facts are sacred"
(Charles Prestwich Scott).
- Not literal or exact:
a free translation.
-
- Costing nothing; gratuitous:
a free meal.
- Publicly supported:
free education.
-
- Not occupied or used:
a free locker.
- Not taken up by scheduled activities:
free time between classes.
- Unobstructed; clear:
a free lane.
- Unguarded in expression or manner; open; frank.
- Taking undue liberties; forward or overfamiliar.
- Liberal or lavish:
tourists who are free with their money.
- Given, made, or done of one's own accord; voluntary or spontaneous:
a free act of the will; free choices.
-
Chemistry & Physics
- Unconstrained; unconfined:
free expansion.
- Not fixed in position; capable of relatively unrestricted motion:
a free electron.
- Not chemically bound in a molecule:
free oxygen.
- Involving no collisions or interactions:
a free path.
- Empty:
a free space.
- Unoccupied:
a free energy level.
-
Nautical
Favorable:
a free wind.
- Not bound, fastened, or attached:
the free end of a chain.
-
Linguistics
- Being a form, especially a morpheme, that can stand as an independent word, such as boat or bring.
- Being a vowel in an open syllable, as the o in go.
ADVERB:
- In a free manner; without restraint.
- Without charge.
TRANSITIVE VERB:
freed
,
freeˇing
,
frees
- To set at liberty; make free:
freed the slaves; free the imagination.
- To relieve of a burden, obligation, or restraint:
a people who were at last freed from fear.
- To remove obstructions or entanglements from; clear:
free a path through the jungle.
IDIOM:
for free
Informal
- Without charge.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English
fre, from Old English
fro. V., from Middle English
freen from Old English
fron,
to love, set free; see
pr
- in Indo-European roots
OTHER FORMS:
free
ly
(Adverb),
freeness
(Noun)
