free rein

noun

Definition of free rein

: unrestricted liberty of action or decision

Examples of free rein in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Club president Florentino Perez promised Zidane the world to try and bring him back; money, control, free rein over...well, everything. — SI.com, "Summer Disasterclass Opens Fissures Which Will See Zinedine Zidane Leave Real Madrid This Season," 30 July 2019 Last August, then-Democratic US Senator Bill Nelson, who Scott was running against, said that Russians had penetrated the systems of certain Florida counties and had ‘‘free rein to move about’’ before last year’s midterm election. — BostonGlobe.com, "Trump says director of National Intelligence is resigning," 29 July 2019 Critics worry the rules will give ICE officers free rein. — Washington Post, "As Trump expands deportation powers, immigrants prepare," 26 July 2019 Ownership has given Zaidi free rein to renovate the roster and likely wouldn’t balk at a Bumgarner trade with significant time passed since the Giants’ glory years. — John Shea, SFChronicle.com, "Giants’ Madison Bumgarner trade decision: The makings of a historic choice," 19 July 2019 Once all that material is in hand, Hull has free rein over the remaining spaces. — Washington Post, "State mapmaker brings creativity, whimsy to Ohio road maps," 2 July 2019 Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino claims that club chairman Daniel Levy holds all the power over transfers in north London, adding that only Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp are given free rein in the market. — SI.com, "Mauricio Pochettino Admits He Doesn't Make Final Transfer Decisions at Tottenham," 29 June 2019 The unabashedly adorable little girl has free rein of the property and, on occasion, the house. — azcentral, "A red-brick ranch in Glendale is more than a home. Take a look inside the pet sanctuary and urban farm," 20 June 2019 Twitter will no longer give political leaders free rein to rant on the social-media platform. — oregonlive.com, "Twitter plans to police Donald Trump’s tweets, adding warning label for ‘abusive behavior’," 28 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'free rein.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Aug 2019

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The first known use of free rein was in 1640

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