as in to liberate
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
under the cover of darkness animal rights activists emancipated the inhabitants of the mink ranch
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Recent Examples of emancipate
House Bill 168, introduced by Democrat Texas state Representative Jon Rosenthal, aims to prohibit all marriages involving individuals under 18, including those who are legally emancipated.
—
Emma Marsden, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 May 2025
The 'Modern Family' star faced challenges growing up, including emancipating from her mother at 17.
—Gillian Telling, People.com, 9 May 2025
Somehow, this respectable foe of radicalism had organized the political realignment that broke up the Union, sustained the war that overthrew the South’s ruling class, and managed the struggle that emancipated its proletariat.
—Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.
—Arkansas Online, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for emancipate
Emma Marsden, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 May 2025
The 'Modern Family' star faced challenges growing up, including emancipating from her mother at 17.
—Gillian Telling, People.com, 9 May 2025
Somehow, this respectable foe of radicalism had organized the political realignment that broke up the Union, sustained the war that overthrew the South’s ruling class, and managed the struggle that emancipated its proletariat.
—Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.
—Arkansas Online, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for emancipate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emancipate
Verb
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Their freedom came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln liberated slaves in the Confederacy by signing the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War.—
Ani Freedman,
Fortune,
20 June 2025
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Two-and-a-half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the enslaved people of Texas learned — via the victorious Union Army — that they were liberated.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2025
Verb
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But oddly enough, writing something so generic was the freeing element to all of our problems.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
21 June 2025
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Philip Andrew Douglass, 42, was freed on bond after an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
21 June 2025
Verb
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For every container of fireworks arriving at a U.S. port, importers must pay the tariff upfront, before customs even thinks about releasing the goods.—
Richard Howells,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
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Lyons was released from Tottenham’s youth system at age 16 and fell into depression before dying by suicide 10 years later.—
Colin Millar,
New York Times,
27 June 2025
Verb
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For one prospective graduate student, an admission to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education had rescued her educational dreams.—
Sara Braun,
Fortune,
21 June 2025
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In New Hampshire, the state says people may be required to pay back the costs to rescue them.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2025
Verb
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Some other states specifically prohibit localities from enfranchising noncitizens.—
Jennifer Peltz,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2025
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Thus enfranchised, Hackman took on Richard Harris’ elegant killer English Bob with gusto, mixing in a bravura oratorical gavotte with ample kicks to the ribs, and summoning the Best Supporting Actor trophy.—
Fred Schruers,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Sabalenka, one of the favorites to lift the Wimbledon title this year, had saved four match points in a tiebreak to escape 2022 champion Elena Rybakina the previous day, one of them coming via a fortunate net cord.—
James Hansen,
New York Times,
21 June 2025
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Republicans in the Senate proposed zeroing out funding for the CFPB, the landmark agency set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, to save $6.4 billion.—
Lisa Mascaro,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2025
Verb
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The screws designed to secure each leg can loosen over time, especially under pressure from a child leaning or pushing.—
Annabelle Canela,
Parents,
16 June 2025
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Although there are more limitations on what 529 funds can be applied to compared to Trump Accounts, restrictions have loosened in recent years to include continuing education classes, apprenticeship programs and student loan payments.—
Jessica Dickler,
CNBC,
11 June 2025
Verb
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Tubman’s father had been manumitted by his owner, but Brodess had inherited Tubman, hiring her and her siblings out to neighbors for seasonal work, whether trapping muskrats or clearing land.—
Casey Cep,
The New Yorker,
24 June 2024
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Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859.—
Harold Holzer,
WSJ,
1 Jan. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Emancipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emancipate. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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