liberate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to set free, as from imprisonment or bondage.
- Synonyms:
- loose, disenthrall, unfetter, deliver
-
to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government.
-
to free (a group or individual) from social or economic constraints or discrimination, especially arising from traditional role expectations or bias.
-
to disengage; set free from combination, as a gas.
-
Slang. to steal or take over illegally.
The soldiers liberated a consignment of cigarettes.
verb
-
to give liberty to; make free
-
to release (something, esp a gas) from chemical combination during a chemical reaction
-
to release from occupation or subjugation by a foreign power
-
to free from social prejudices or injustices
-
euphemistic to steal
Related Words
See release.
Other Word Forms
- liberative adjective
- liberator noun
- liberatory adjective
- preliberate verb (used with object)
- reliberate verb (used with object)
- unliberated adjective
Etymology
Origin of liberate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin līberātus (past participle of līberāre “to free”), equivalent to līberā- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix. See liberal, -ate 1
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.
The idea, he said, is to manage Venezuela rather than liberate it.
But we live in a time when everything from ad-free streaming services to self-driving cars can supposedly liberate us from the mundane.
The shift liberates her holiday shopping, says Nussen, lead lighting designer at Consumer’s Lighting, a company she runs with her husband.
Then she herself became an icon: a beautiful, liberated, modern woman who refused to conform to outdated stereotypes.
From BBC
But 2025 was the year in which the nation was led in another direction, and it was the year in which it became ever more comforting and even liberating to call California home.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
