let loose
Americanidiom
-
to set free; release;
They let the captured mouse loose in a field.
-
to allow to act freely (often followed byon ).
I have my medical students practice putting IVs in me before I let them loose on patients.
-
to act in a relaxed or uninhibited way.
It took some time to talk my dad into letting loose and playing a few games with the grandkids.
I can be serious when I need to be, but sometimes I just need to let loose and have fun.
-
to utter or issue forcefully and suddenly (sometimes followed bywith ).
I let loose a shriek and made a dive for the door.
He let loose with a flurry of angry posts on the website.
-
to give way; yield.
The guardrail let loose and we very nearly plunged over the edge.
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.
She sang open-throated declarations, recited broken poetic verses, scatted with the authority of a jazz singer, moaned with bluesy intent, and occasionally let loose an unbridled shriek or giggle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
As Floyd, David Harbour gets to show off his dance moves in the series: “It was fun to just let loose, with a fat prosthetic belly, and have a good time and dance.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
These are “sociable, bro-ey men in their twenties and thirties,” Mr. Funt explains, “the kind of guys who have matured since their fraternity days but can still let loose on a bachelor party.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
It is important to see him let loose.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2025
All our demons let loose into the night air, carried up to the stars that we can see so clearly here.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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.
