What does "free" mean?
Abbreviation of free kick.
Free
/fɹiː/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Abbreviation of free kick.
- Grammar: free is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: complimentary, costless, gratis, liberate.
- Useful contrasts: for-pay, literal, unfree.
- Usage evidence: A democrat is a free citizen who yields to the will of the majority.
How to use "free"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "free" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "free" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "free" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "free" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "free" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "complimentary" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "free", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Abbreviation of free kick. abbreviation, alt-of
"Whether deserved or not, the free gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren."
- 2 people who are free wordnet
- 3 A free transfer.
"Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring."
- 4 The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
- 5 Abbreviation of freestyle. abbreviation, alt-of, informal
"The team won the 200 meters free relay."
Verb
- 1 To make free; set at liberty; release. transitive
"Pro.[…]Spirit, fine ſpirit, Ile free thee / Within two dayes for this."
- 2 make (assets) available wordnet
- 3 To rid of something that confines or oppresses. transitive
"Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil.""
- 4 let off the hook wordnet
- 5 To relinquish (previously allocated memory) to the system. transitive
"There is no way to access that original area of memory, nor is there any way to free it before the program ends."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 free or remove obstruction from wordnet
- 7 remove or force out from a position wordnet
- 8 release (gas or energy) as a result of a chemical reaction or physical decomposition wordnet
- 9 part with a possession or right wordnet
- 10 relieve from wordnet
- 11 grant freedom to; free from confinement wordnet
- 12 free from obligations or duties wordnet
- 13 make (information) available for publication wordnet
- 14 grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Unconstrained.
"He was given free rein to do whatever he wanted."
- 2 Unconstrained.; Not imprisoned or enslaved.
"Free Blacks"
- 3 Unconstrained.; Generous; liberal.
"He's very free with his money."
- 4 Unconstrained.; Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent. obsolete
"My hands are guilty, but my heart is free."
- 5 Unconstrained.; Without obligations.
"free time"
Show 23 more definitions
- 6 Unconstrained.; To be enjoyed by anyone freely.
"a free school"
- 7 Unconstrained.; Upholding individual rights.
"the Free World"
- 8 Unconstrained.; With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.
"OpenOffice is free software."
- 9 Unconstrained.; Intended for release, and omitting debugging diagnostics, as opposed to a checked version.
- 10 Obtainable without any payment.
"Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
- 11 Obtainable without any payment.; Complimentary. broadly
"Buy a TV to get a free DVD player!"
- 12 Unconstrained.; In any of various technical senses generic, universal.; Left adjoint to a forgetful functor G; such that any map f:X→G(A) induces a universal map ̄f:F(X)→A. abstract
- 13 Unconstrained.; In any of various technical senses generic, universal.; Belonging to the image of some free functor. abstract
- 14 Unconstrained.; In any of various technical senses generic, universal.; Having a set of generators which satisfy no non-trivial relations; equivalently, being the group of reduced words on a set of generators. abstract
"The fundamental group of the figure eight is free of rank 2."
- 15 Unconstrained.; In any of various technical senses generic, universal.; Having a linearly independent set of generators (called a basis). abstract
- 16 Unconstrained.; Unconstrained by quantifiers. abstract
"z is the free variable in #92;forallx#92;existsy#58;xy#61;z."
- 17 Unconstrained.; Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound. abstract
- 18 Unconstrained.; (of a morpheme) That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme. abstract
- 19 Unconstrained.; Unobstructed, without blockages. physical
"the drain was free"
- 20 Unconstrained.; Unattached or uncombined. physical
"a free radical"
- 21 Unconstrained.; Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied. physical
"You can sit on this chair; it's free."
- 22 Unconstrained.; Not attached; loose. physical
"In this group of mushrooms, the gills are free."
- 23 Unconstrained.; Of a rocket or missile: not under the control of a guidance system after being launched. physical
- 24 Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.
"We had a wholesome, filling meal, free of meat. I would like to live free from care in the mountains."
- 25 Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited. dated
"a free horse"
- 26 Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of. dated
"He therefore makes all birds, of every sect, / Free of his farm."
- 27 Certain or honourable; the opposite of base. UK, obsolete
"free service; free socage"
- 28 Privileged or individual; proprietary.
"a free fishery; a free warren"
Adjective
- 1 not literal wordnet
- 2 completely wanting or lacking wordnet
- 3 unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion wordnet
- 4 not fixed in position wordnet
- 5 not limited or hampered; not under compulsion or restraint wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 not held in servitude wordnet
- 7 not occupied or in use wordnet
- 8 not taken up by scheduled activities wordnet
- 9 costing nothing wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Without needing to pay.
"I got this bike free."
- 2 Freely; willingly. obsolete
"I as free forgive you / As I would be forgiven."
Adverb
- 1 without restraint wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Parish Grove Township, Benton County, Indiana, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
"A democrat is a free citizen who yields to the will of the majority."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "free"?
Common synonyms include: complimentary, costless, gratis, liberate, release, abandoned.
How do you use "free" in a sentence?
A democrat is a free citizen who yields to the will of the majority.
How do you pronounce "free"?
Pronounced /fɹiː/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English free, fre, freo, from Old English frēo (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“pleased, loved”), from *preyH- (“to please, love”). Related to friend. cognates, etc Germanic cognates include Scots fre (“free”), North Frisian frai, frei, fri, Frii (“free”), Saterland Frisian fräi (“free”), West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), German frei (“free”), Low German free (“free”), Luxembourgish fräi (“free”), Vilamovian frȧj (“free”), Yiddish פֿרײַ (fray, “free”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish fri (“free”), Faroese fríur (“free”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis, “free”). Other cognates include Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “beloved”). Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the PIE word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage". This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved", in other words friends and tribe members (in contrast to unfree inhabitants from other tribes and prisoners of war, many of which were among the slaves – compare the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family").
Etymology 2
From Middle English freen, freoȝen, from Old English frēon, frēoġan (“to free; make free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frijōn, from Proto-Germanic *frijōną, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH-, and is cognate with German freien, Dutch vrijen, Czech přát, Serbo-Croatian prijati, Polish sprzyjać.
Etymology 3
English surname, from Old English freo (“freeborn”).