free
adj , freer, freest
1 able to act at will; not under compulsion or restraint
a having personal rights or liberty; not enslaved or confined
b (as n)
land of the free
3 often postpositive and foll by: from not subject (to) or restricted (by some regulation, constraint, etc.); exempt
a free market, free from pain
4 (of a country, etc.) autonomous or independent
5 exempt from external direction or restriction; not forced or induced
free will
6 not subject to conventional constraints
free verse
7 (of jazz) totally improvised, with no preset melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic basis
8 not exact or literal
a free translation
9 costing nothing; provided without charge
free entertainment
a not subject to payment of rent or performance of services; freehold
b not subject to any burden or charge, such as a mortgage or lien; unencumbered
11 postpositive; often foll by: of or with ready or generous in using or giving; liberal; lavish
free with advice
12 unrestrained by propriety or good manners; licentious
13 not occupied or in use; available
a free cubicle
14 not occupied or busy; without previous engagements
I'm not free until Wednesday
15 open or available to all; public
16 without charge to the subscriber or user
freepost, freephone
17 not fixed or joined; loose
the free end of a chain
18 without obstruction or impediment
free passage
19 (Chem) chemically uncombined
free nitrogen
20 (Phonetics) denoting a vowel that can occur in an open syllable, such as the vowel in see as opposed to the vowel in cat
21 (Grammar) denoting a morpheme that can occur as a separate word
Compare →
bound 1 →
8a
22 (Logic) denoting an occurrence of a variable not bound by a quantifier
Compare →
bound 1 →
9
23 (of some materials, such as certain kinds of stone) easily worked
24 (Nautical) (of the wind) blowing from the quarter
25 ♦
free and easy casual or tolerant; easy-going
26 ♦
for free
Not standard without charge or cost
27 usually imperative to regard oneself as having permission to perform a specified action
28 ♦
make free with to take liberties with; behave too familiarly towards
adv
29 in a free manner; freely
30 without charge or cost
31 (Nautical) with the wind blowing from the quarter
a yacht sailing free
vb , frees, freeing, freed tr
32 sometimes foll by: up to set at liberty; release
33 to remove obstructions, attachments, or impediments from; disengage
34 often foll by: of or from to relieve or rid (of obstacles, pain, etc.) (Old English freo; related to Old Saxon, Old High German fri, Gothic freis free, Sanskrit priya dear) ♦
freer n ♦
freely adv ♦
freeness n
acceleration of free fall
n the acceleration of a body falling freely in a vacuum in the earth's gravitational field: the standard value is 9.80665 metres per second per second or 32.174 feet per second per second., (Symbol)
g (Also called)
acceleration due to gravity, acceleration of gravity
alcohol-free
adj
1 (of beer or wine) containing only a trace of alcohol
Compare →
low-alcohol
2 (of a period of time) during which no alcoholic drink is consumed
there should be one or two alcohol-free days a week
Congo Free State
n a former name (1885--1908) of (Democratic Republic of the) →
Congo →
2
cruelty-free
adj (of a cosmetic or other product) developed without being tested on animals
culture-free test
n a test (usually for intelligence) that does not put anyone taking it at a disadvantage, for instance, as regards material or cultural background
duty-free
adj
adv
1 with exemption from customs or excise duties
n
2 goods sold in a duty-free shop
duty-free shop
n a shop, esp. one at an airport or on board a ship, that sells perfume, tobacco, etc., at duty-free prices
European Free Trade Association
n See →
EFTA
fancy-free
adj having no commitments; carefree
-free
adj combining form free from
trouble-free, lead-free petrol
free agent
n a person whose actions are not constrained by others
free alongside ship
adj (of a shipment of goods) delivered to the dock without charge to the buyer, but excluding the cost of loading onto the vessel
Compare →
free on board (Abbrevs.)
FAS, f.a.s (Also)
free alongside vessel
free association
n
1 (Psychoanal) a method of exploring a person's unconscious by eliciting words and thoughts that are associated with key words provided by a psychoanalyst
2 a spontaneous mental process whereby ideas, words, or images suggest other ideas, etc., in a nonlogical chain reaction
Free Church
n (Chiefly Brit)
a any Protestant Church, esp. the Presbyterian, other than the Established Church
b (as modifier)
Free-Church attitudes
free city
n a sovereign or autonomous city; city-state
free climbing
n (Mountaineering) climbing without using pitons, étriers, etc., as direct aids to ascent, but using ropes, belays, etc., at discretion for security
Compare →
aid climbing
free coinage
n (U.S) coinage of bullion brought to the mint by any individual
free companion
n (in medieval Europe) a member of a company of mercenary soldiers
free company
n (European history) a band of mercenary soldiers during the Middle Ages
free electron
n any electron that is not attached to an ion, atom, or molecule and is free to move under the influence of an applied electric or magnetic field
free energy
n a thermodynamic property that expresses the capacity of a system to perform work under certain conditions
See →
Gibbs function →
Helmholtz function
free enterprise
n an economic system in which commercial organizations compete for profit with little state control
free fall
n
1 free descent of a body in which the gravitational force is the only force acting on it
2 the part of a parachute descent before the parachute opens
free flight
n the flight of a rocket, missile, etc., when its engine has ceased to produce thrust
free-floating
adj unattached or uncommitted, as to a cause, a party, etc.
♦
free-floater n
free-floating anxiety
n (Psychiatry) chronic anxiety occurring for no identifiable cause
free-for-all
n
Informal a disorganized brawl or argument, usually involving all those present
free form (Arts)
n
1 an irregular flowing shape, often used in industrial or fabric design
adj
♦
free-form
2 freely flowing, spontaneous
free gift
n something given away, esp. as an incentive to a purchaser
free gold
n
1 gold, uncombined with other minerals, found in a pure state
2 (U.S.) the excess of gold held by the Federal Reserve Banks over the legal reserve
free hand
n
1 unrestricted freedom to act (esp. in the phrase give (someone) a free hand)
adj
adv , freehand
2 (done) by hand without the use of guiding instruments
a freehand drawing
free-handed
adj generous or liberal; unstinting
♦
free-handedly adv
♦
free-handedness n
free-hearted
adj frank and spontaneous; open; generous
♦
free-heartedly adv
♦
free-heartedness n
free house
n (Brit) a public house not bound to sell only one brewer's products
free kick
n (Soccer) a place kick awarded for a foul or infringement, either direct, from which a goal may be scored, or indirect, from which the ball must be touched by at least one other player for a goal to be allowed
free labour
n
1 the labour of workers who are not members of trade unions
2 such workers collectively
free list
n
1 (Commerce) (chiefly U.S.) a list of commodities not subject to tariffs
2 a list of people admitted free
free-living
adj
1 given to ready indulgence of the appetites
2 (of animals and plants) not parasitic; existing independently
♦
free-liver n
free love
n the practice of sexual relationships without fidelity to a single partner or without formal or legal ties
free market
n
a an economic system that allows supply and demand to regulate prices, wages, etc., rather than government policy
b (as modifier)
a free-market economy
free on board
adj (of a shipment of goods) delivered on board ship or other carrier without charge to the buyer
Compare →
free alongside ship (Abbrevs.)
FOB, f.o.b
free on rail
adj (of a consignment of goods) delivered to a railway station and loaded onto a train without charge to the buyer, (Abbrevs.)
FOR, f.o.r
free port
n
1 a port open to all commercial vessels on equal terms
2 (Also called)
free zone a zone adjoining a port that permits the duty-free entry of foreign goods intended for re-export
free radical
n an atom or group of atoms containing at least one unpaired electron and existing for a brief period of time before reacting to produce a stable molecule, (Sometimes shortened to)
radical Compare →
group →
10
free-range
adj (Chiefly Brit) kept or produced in natural nonintensive conditions
free-range hens, free-range eggs
free recall
n (Psychol) the recollection of the members of a list of items without regard to their serial order
free-running
adj
1 (of a mechanism, material, etc.) moving smoothly and uninterruptedly
2 (Electronics) of or relating to a periodic signal that is not synchronized to a timing source
free-running interference produces moving patterns on a television screen
free-select
vb tr (Austral. history) to select (areas of crown land) and acquire the freehold by a series of annual payments
♦
free-selection n
♦
free-selector n
free silver
n the unlimited minting of silver coins, esp. when at a fixed ratio to gold
free skating
n either the short programme of specified movements or the long programme chosen by a skater in a figure-skating competition
Free Soil Party
n a former U.S. political party opposing slavery from 1848 until 1854 when it merged with the Republican party
free space
n a region that has no gravitational and electromagnetic fields: used as an absolute standard, (Also called (no longer in technical usage))
vacuum
free speech
n the right to express one's opinions publicly
free-spoken
adj speaking frankly or without restraint
♦
free-spokenly adv
♦
free-spokenness n
Free State
n
1 a province of central South Africa; replaced the former province of Orange Free State in 1994: gold and uranium mining. Capital: Bloemfontein. Pop.: 2782500 (1995 est.). Area: 129480 sq. km (49992 sq. miles)
2 (U.S. history) (before the Civil War) any state prohibiting slavery
3 short for the →
Irish Free State
free-swimming
adj (of aquatic animals or larvae) not sessile or attached to any object and therefore able to swim freely in the water
♦
free-swimmer n
free thought
n thought unrestrained and uninfluenced by dogma or authority, esp. in religious matters
free throw
n (Basketball) an unimpeded shot at the basket from the free-throw line given for a technical fault (one free shot) or a foul (two free shots)
free trade
n
1 international trade that is free of such government interference as import quotas, export subsidies, protective tariffs, etc.
Compare →
protection →
3
2 Archaic illicit trade; smuggling
free-trader
n
1 a person who supports or advocates free trade
2 Archaic a smuggler or smuggling vessel
free verse
n unrhymed verse without a metrical pattern
free vote
n (Chiefly Brit) a parliamentary division in which members are not constrained by a party whip
free will
n
a the apparent human ability to make choices that are not externally determined
b the doctrine that such human freedom of choice is not illusory
Compare →
determinism
c (as modifier)
a free-will decision
2 the ability to make a choice without coercion
he left of his own free will: I did not influence him
Free World
n the. the non-Communist countries collectively, esp. those that are actively anti-Communist
free zone
n an area at a port where certain customs restrictions are not implemented
See also →
free port
Irish Free State
n a former name for the (Republic of) Ireland (1921--37)
mean free path
n the average distance travelled by a particle, atom, etc., between collisions
nuclear-free zone
n an area barred, esp. by local authorities, to the storage or deployment of nuclear weapons
Orange Free State
n a former province of central South Africa, between the Orange and Vaal rivers: settled by Boers in 1836 after the Great Trek; annexed by Britain in 1848; became a province of South Africa in 1910; replaced in 1994 by the new province of Free State; economy based on agriculture and mineral resources (esp. gold and uranium). Capital: Bloemfontein
post-free
adv
adj
1 (Brit) with the postage prepaid; post-paid
rent-free
adj
adv without payment of rent
scot-free
adv
adj predicative without harm, loss, or penalty
(C16: see scot and lot)
tax-free
adj not needing to have tax paid on it
tax-free savings schemes
Wee Free
n
Informal, often derogatory a member of the minority of the Free Church of Scotland that refused to be joined with the United Free Church in 1900