Dictionary entry

Free (3)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Free, v. t. [imp. & p. p.Freed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Freeing.] [OE. freen, freoien, AS. freógan. See Free, a.] 1. To make free; to set at liberty; to rid of that which confines, limits, embarrasses, oppresses, etc.; to release; to disengage; to clear; — followed by from, and sometimes by off; as, to free a captive or a slave; to be freed of these inconveniences. Clarendon.

Our land is from the rage of tigers freed. Dryden.

Arise,... free thy people from their yoke. Milton.

2. To remove, as something that confines or bars; to relieve from the constraint of.

This master key

Frees every lock, and leads us to his person. Dryden.

3. To frank. Johnson.