free rein
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of free rein
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
Many seem to have free rein so far.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
“One of the things I knew going into the project is that we weren’t going to have free rein access to them at every minute, every second of their time in Los Angeles,” he said.
From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026
"I got free rein on the internet basically. So I think that for me, the damage has already been done."
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
Paramount, which owns the franchise, gave them free rein with the material so there was no beat-by-beat reconstruction of one of the seven films.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025
Doing all that Chandresh asked of him and more, to the point where he was given free rein with everything from approving the design of the gates to ordering the canvas for the tents.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
