Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

free

2 verb
     
free2 W3 past tense and past participle freed, present participle freeing [transitive]
1

release

to allow someone to leave prison or somewhere they have been kept as a prisoner [= release]:
He expects to be freed quite soon.
The terrorists have at last agreed to free the hostages.
free somebody from something
She was freed from prison last week.
2

not control

to allow someone to say and do what they want, after controlling or restricting them in the past
free somebody from/of something
The press has now been freed from political control.
She longed to be freed of her responsibilities.
Art frees the imagination.
3

allow somebody/something to move

to move someone or something so that they are no longer held, fixed, or trapped [= release]:
He struggled to free himself, but the ropes were too tight.
I couldn't free the safety catch.
free somebody/something from something
All the victims have now been freed from the wreckage.
4

stop somebody suffering

to stop someone suffering from something by removing it
free somebody from something
new drugs that can free people from pain
At last the country has been freed from its enormous debts.
5

make available

also free something ↔ up to make something available so that it can be used:
I need to free up some of the disk space on my computer.
This should free some money for investment.
6

give somebody more time

also free somebody ↔ up to give someone time to do something by taking away other jobs that they have to do
free somebody (up) to do something
Taking away the burden of administration will free teachers to concentrate on teaching.
We have freed up some staff to deal with the backlog of work.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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