free
adjective
enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery.
free
1 American
[free]
/ fri /
adjective
freer,
freest
-
enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery.
a land of free people.
-
pertaining to or reserved for those who enjoy personal liberty.
They were thankful to be living on free soil.
-
existing under, characterized by, or possessing civil and political liberties that are, as a rule, constitutionally guaranteed by representative government.
the free nations of the world.
-
enjoying political autonomy, as a people or country not under foreign rule; independent.
-
exempt from external authority, interference, restriction, etc., as a person or one's will, thought, choice, action, etc.; independent; unrestricted.
-
able to do something at will; at liberty.
free to choose.
-
clear of obstructions or obstacles, as a road or corridor.
The highway is now free of fallen rock.
-
not occupied or in use; available.
I think the main conference room is free, so we can meet there.
I'm moving to a new apartment, and that’s taking up most of my free time.
-
exempt or released from something specified that controls, restrains, burdens, etc. (usually followed by from orof ).
free from worry;
free of taxes.
-
having immunity or being safe (usually followed byfrom ).
free from danger.
-
provided without, or not subject to, a charge or payment: a free sample.
free parking;
a free sample.
-
given without consideration of a return or reward.
a free offer of legal advice.
-
unimpeded, as motion or movement; easy, firm, or swift.
-
not held fast; loose; unattached.
to get one's arm free.
-
not joined to or in contact with something else.
The free end of the cantilever sagged.
-
acting without self-restraint or reserve.
to be too free with one's tongue.
-
ready or generous in giving; liberal; lavish.
to be free with one's advice.
-
given readily or in profusion; unstinted.
-
frank and open; unconstrained, unceremonious, or familiar.
-
unrestrained by decency; loose or licentious.
free behavior.
-
not subject to special regulations, restrictions, duties, etc..
The ship was given free passage.
-
of, relating to, or characterized by free enterprise.
a free economy.
-
that may be used by or is open to all.
a free market.
-
engaged in by all present; general.
a free fight.
-
not literal, as a translation, adaptation, or the like; loose.
-
uncombined chemically.
free oxygen.
-
traveling without power; under no force except that of gravity or inertia.
free flight.
-
Phonetics. (of a vowel) situated in an open syllable (opposed to checked).
-
at liberty to enter and enjoy at will (usually followed byof ).
to be free of a friend's house.
-
not subject to rules, set forms, etc..
The young students had an hour of free play between classes.
-
easily worked, as stone, land, etc.
-
Mathematics. (of a vector) having specified magnitude and direction but no specified initial point.
-
Nautical. Also (of a wind) nearly on the quarter, so that a sailing vessel may sail free.
-
not containing a specified substance (usually followed by of orfrom ).
Our deli meats are free of additives.
-
(of a linguistic form) occurring as an independent construction, without necessary combination with other forms, as most words.
-
without cost, payment, or charge.
adverb
-
in a free manner; freely.
-
Nautical. away from the wind, so that a sailing vessel need not be close-hauled.
running free.
verb (used with object)
-
frees,
present (3rd person singular)
-
freed,
past participle, past
-
freeing
present participle
-
to make free; set at liberty; release from bondage, imprisonment, or restraint.
-
to exempt or deliver (usually followed byfrom ).
-
to relieve or rid (usually followed byof ).
to free oneself of responsibility.
-
to disengage; clear (usually followed by from orof ).
verb phrase
idioms
-
with a free hand, generously; freely; openhandedly.
He entertains visitors with a free hand.
-
for free, without charge.
The tailor mended my jacket for free.
-
free and clear, without any encumbrance, as a lien or mortgage.
They owned their house free and clear.
-
free and easy,
-
unrestrained; casual; informal.
-
excessively or inappropriately casual; presumptuous.
-
-
make free with,
-
to use as one's own; help oneself to.
If you make free with their liquor, you won't be invited again.
-
to treat with too much familiarity; take liberties with.
-
-
set free, to release; liberate; free.
The prisoners were set free.
-free
2
American
free
1
British
/ friː /
adjective
-
able to act at will; not under compulsion or restraint
-
-
having personal rights or liberty; not enslaved or confined
-
( as noun )
land of the free
-
-
not subject (to) or restricted (by some regulation, constraint, etc); exempt
a free market
free from pain
-
(of a country, etc) autonomous or independent
-
exempt from external direction or restriction; not forced or induced
free will
-
not subject to conventional constraints
free verse
-
(of jazz) totally improvised, with no preset melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic basis
-
not exact or literal
a free translation
-
costing nothing; provided without charge
free entertainment
-
law
-
not subject to payment of rent or performance of services; freehold
-
not subject to any burden or charge, such as a mortgage or lien; unencumbered
-
-
(postpositive; often foll by of or with) ready or generous in using or giving; liberal; lavish
free with advice
-
unrestrained by propriety or good manners; licentious
-
not occupied or in use; available
a free cubicle
-
not occupied or busy; without previous engagements
I'm not free until Wednesday
-
open or available to all; public
-
without charge to the subscriber or user
freepost
freephone
-
not fixed or joined; loose
the free end of a chain
-
without obstruction or impediment
free passage
-
chem chemically uncombined
free nitrogen
-
phonetics denoting a vowel that can occur in an open syllable, such as the vowel in see as opposed to the vowel in cat
-
grammar denoting a morpheme that can occur as a separate word Compare bound 1
-
logic denoting an occurrence of a variable not bound by a quantifier Compare bound 1
-
(of some materials, such as certain kinds of stone) easily worked
-
nautical (of the wind) blowing from the quarter
-
(usually imperative) to regard oneself as having permission to perform a specified action
-
not_standard without charge or cost
-
casual or tolerant; easy-going
-
to take liberties with; behave too familiarly towards
adverb
-
in a free manner; freely
-
without charge or cost
-
nautical with the wind blowing from the quarter
a yacht sailing free
verb
-
(sometimes foll by up) to set at liberty; release
-
to remove obstructions, attachments, or impediments from; disengage
-
to relieve or rid (of obstacles, pain, etc)
noun
-free
2
British
combining form
free
More Idioms
Usage
What does -free mean? The combining form -free is used like a suffix meaning “free of or from something specified.” It is often separated from the initial element with a hyphen, as in gluten-free. The form -free is native to English.
Synonym Usage
See release.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
freenessnoun
-
freernoun
-
unfreeverb (used with object)
-
overfreeadjective
-
quasi-freeadjective
-
freelyadverb
-
overfreelyadverb
-
quasi-freelyadverb
-
unfreelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
freesimple
-
freessimple
-
have freedperfect
-
has freedperfect
-
am freeingprogressive
-
are freeingprogressive
-
is freeingprogressive
-
have been freeingperfect progressive
-
has been freeingperfect progressive
Past
-
freedsimple
-
had freedperfect
-
was freeingprogressive
-
were freeingprogressive
-
had been freeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of free
First recorded before 900; Middle English fre, Old English frēo; cognate with Gothic freis, Old High German frī ( German frei ), Dutch vrij, Sanskrit priyá- “dear.” Cf. friend, Friday
Explanation
Something that costs nothing is free. We can also say that someone is free of pain, which means they have none. This word has many meanings. On Mondays, admission to some museums is free — there's no charge. Often, people say the best things in life are free, usually meaning love and friendship. We live in a free country, which means we have a lot of rights and freedoms, such as freedom of the press. The word has a similar meaning when we say a prisoner goes free, or philosophers talk about free will: the belief that we make our own decisions, not ones forced on us by society, culture, or a higher power.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Matt Tyrer's department is spearheading the rolling out of a scheme which will see women and girls on the Isle of Man access free period products.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
Contributors rewrite endings, invent romances or give minor characters their own adventures, then share them online for free.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
“If you’re a long-term investor and focus on free cash flow, Micron is in the top five of any technology company right now,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some have tried to free up beds by speeding up the transfer of patients out of the hospital to post-discharge facilities, said Brianna Motley, vice president of strategy intelligence at Vizient.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Even though we were now free, and life was returning to some kind of normality, this was the worst time of all for me because Peter’s letters just stopped coming.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
AT&T said it received a “favorable” ruling from the IRS, signaling that the deal to combine WarnerMedia with Discovery would be tax -free for shareholders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2021
Cave’s joke, of course, is that “Every lead girl in a period drama” is no freer from the demands of feminine beauty than the women she’s meant to stand apart from.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
For one, the period of freer trade that accompanied the creation of the WTO in 1995 has profoundly changed the world economy, and in particular raised the relative importance of China and other developing economies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
To give this freer approach some direction, United appear to have established a set of shared tactical principles and concepts.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
He felt freer to work when operating outside of the United States.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Instead, I feel freer now that Gran’s shown me the door.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF seeks exposure to “the freest emerging markets, because we believe those are the places to find the next big growth stories,” Tolle said.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 17, 2025
Spain today is one of the freest countries in the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
He says he plans to "forge the freest, most advanced, most dynamic and most dominant civilization ever to exist on the face of this earth."
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2025
"We will do our best to provide the freest speech that is possible under the law," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2023
“I think an aeronaut is free. I think an aeronaut may be the freest of all humankind.”
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
“It’s a bottoming-out,” he said, which frees the party to begin “rebuilding conversations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
The process can take around 10 minutes and frees her time for other tasks, she said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
That reaction ultimately frees cysteine that the cell can use.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026
Concerned by the threat of United's full-backs in space, the opposition may move over, which frees up space for team-mates to pass the ball into the midfielders in the centre of the pitch.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
More precisely, they don’t have that mental valet in their unconscious that frees them up to concentrate on what really matters.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
"They freed up space for Nygren and Baur. It was a really positive 30 minutes."
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
He played his pipe, led the rats into the river and freed the town.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
Higher interest rates are the main culprit, but the silver lining is that the housing slowdown has freed up workers for other projects like data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Although the electrons were freed at different moments, their behavior remained connected through quantum correlations.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
There Pirithoüs sits forever, but Theseus was freed by his cousin.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
"We believe the heavy 5G investment cycle is largely behind for Jio... freeing up significant cash flow," they said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
There’s something freeing about exorcising negativity through song that keeps people coming back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The large number of players on England deals is a result of high-earners like Ben Stokes and Mark Wood retiring from international cricket and freeing up space in the budget.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Robinhood also said it would launch 24/7 trading hours for a select group of U.S. stocks, freeing its agents to execute users’ trades at any moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
All of this was marvelous and helpful, freeing me up to focus on the things I felt were most important.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
