let rip

phrase

: to say or do (something) without restraint

She let the ball rip. [=threw the ball very hard/fast]

… let rip at the airline in a series of insulting tweets …

—Julia Buckley

… couldn't help but let rip with the swear words …

—Julia Hunt and Bekka Barnard

… let rip with a wonderful long-range strike to deliver the winner.

—AAP Newsfeed

also : to remove limits or restraints from (someone or something) : to allow (someone or something) to act, function, etc. freely

… on the flat plains of Kansas I let the motor rip, even reaching 70 mph …

—David Tracy

… let his anger rip on Twitter when he failed to get any Grammy nomination love.

—idolator.com

But keeping rates low to save the banks will let inflation rip.

—David McWilliams

… the logic behind the movie is simple: Put Prince on stage and let him rip.

—polygon.com

… letting rip a huge fart …

—Elizabeth Aubrey

see also let it rip

Examples of let rip in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But in his own drawing, De Kooning let rip with liner brushes, swishing them about all over the paper, achieving undulant lines that contract and expand like living creatures. — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for let rip

• airship
• airstrip
• clerkship
• courtship
• equip
• filmstrip
• flagship
• headship
• heirship
• judgeship
• kinship
• lightship