free
1 free to move where you want
2 free to do and say what you want
1 free to move where you want
- if you are not in prison or under the control of sb else, you are free; noun (U): freedom
After ten years in prison, he was now a free man. ◎ He was given back his freedom after thirty years in jail.
- to cause a person or animal to be free: free sb/sth, set* sb/sth free, let* sb/sth go, release sb
He's hoping he'll be freed from jail next month. ◎ They held the hostages for more than a year before letting them go.
- to get away from a place where you do not want to be: escape (from a place), break* out of a place
The monkey had escaped from the zoo. ◎ Three men broke out of prison last night.
※ more on escaping ESCAPE
※ not free
- a person who is kept in a place by sb else and who is not free to go where they want: prisoner, captive
- a building where prisoners are kept as a punishment: prison
- if you are not free, you are captive; noun (U): captivity
- to catch sb/sth and make them a prisoner: capture sb/sth, take* sb prisoner; noun (U): capture
Several of the tourists were taken prisoner by the terrorists. ◎ We have only just been given news of his capture.
※ more on prison PRISON
2 free to do and say what you want
- if you are not controlled by rules, the government, etc, you are free (to do sth); nouns (U): freedom, liberty
a free country ◎ free time ◎ You're free to go where you want. ◎ the freedom of the press ◎ restrictions on individual liberty
- to cause sb/sth to be free: liberate sb/sth (from sth); noun (U): liberation
the country's liberation from colonial rule
- a person's legal right to freedom and equality in their own country, no matter what their sex, race or religion: civil rights (noun plural), civil liberties (noun plural)
- the right to say what you think about anything in public: free speech (noun U), freedom of speech (noun U)
- not controlled by another person, country, etc: independent; noun (U): independence
an independent country ◎ He's grown up now and he wants his independence.
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