Definition of free
freer;
freest
1 a
:having the legal and political rights of a citizen
- setting the slave free
b
:enjoying civil and political liberty
- free citizens
c
:enjoying political independence or freedom from outside domination
- This is a free country.
d
:enjoying personal freedom :not subject to the control or domination of another
- You are free to do whatever you want.
2 a
:not determined by anything beyond its own nature or being :choosing or capable of choosing for itself
- a player free to negotiate a contract with any team
b
:determined by the choice of the actor or performer
- free actions
c
:made, done, or given voluntarily or spontaneously
- gave his free consent
3 a
:relieved from or lacking something and especially something unpleasant or burdensome
- free from pain
- a speech free of political rhetoric
- error-free
b
:not bound, confined, or detained by force
- The prisoner is now free.
4 a
:having no trade restrictions
- duty-free imports
b
:not subject to government regulation
- free competition
c
of foreign exchange
:not subject to restriction or official control
5 a
:having no obligations (as to work) or commitments
- I'll be free this evening
b
:not taken up with commitments or obligations
- a free evening
6
:having a scope not restricted by qualification
- a free variable
7 a
:not obstructed, restricted, or impeded
- free to leave
b
:not being used or occupied
- waved with his free hand
c
:not hampered or restricted in its normal operation
8 a
:not fastened
- the free end of the rope
b
:not confined to a particular position or place
- in twelve-tone music, no note is wholly free for it must hold its place in the series
- —J. L. Stewart
c
:capable of moving or turning in any direction
- a free particle
d
:performed without apparatus
- free tumbling
e
:done with artificial aids (such as pitons) used only for protection against falling and not for support
- a free climb
9 a
:not parsimonious
- free spending
b
:outspoken
- is free in his criticism
c
:availing oneself of something without stint
- she's very free with her money
e
:overly familiar or forward in action or attitude
- a young man who had been much too free with the ladies of the town
- —Harvey Graham
f
:licentious
- inexcusably free talk before the ladies
10
:not costing or charging anything
- a free school
- a free ticket
11 a (1)
:not united with, attached to, combined with, or mixed with something else :separate
- free ores
- a free surface of a bodily part
(2)
:freestanding
- a free column
b
:chemically uncombined
- free oxygen
- free acids
c
:not permanently attached but able to move about
- a free electron in a metal
d
:capable of being used alone as a meaningful linguistic form
- the word hats is a free form
12 a
:not literal or exact
- free translation
b
:not restricted by or conforming to conventional forms
- free skating
13
:favorable
—used of a wind blowing from a direction more than six points from dead ahead
14
:not allowing slavery
- was admitted to the Union as a free state
15
:open to all comers
- that most pleasurable of Anglo-Saxon pastimes, a free fight
- —Winston Churchill
—
for free
:without charge
