[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

free \free\ fr=e, a. compar. freer -~er; superl.
   freest -e^st. oe. fre, freo, as. fre'o, frimac;
   akin to d. vrij, os.  ohg. frimac, g. frei, icel.
   frimac, sw.  dan. fri, goth. freis, and also to skr. prija
   beloved, dear, fr. primac to love, goth. frij=on. cf.
   affray, belfry, friday, friend, frith inclosure.
   1. exempt from subjection to the will of others; not under
      restraint, control, or compulsion; able to follow one's
      own impulses, desires, or inclinations; determining one's
      own course of action; not dependent; at liberty.
      1913 webster

            that which has the power, or not the power, to
            operate, is that alone which is or is not free.
                                                  --locke.
      1913 webster

   2. not under an arbitrary or despotic government; subject
      only to fixed laws regularly and fairly administered, and
      defended by them from encroachments upon natural or
      acquired rights; enjoying political liberty.
      1913 webster

   3. liberated, by arriving at a certain age, from the control
      of parents, guardian, or master.
      1913 webster

   4. not confined or imprisoned; released from arrest;
      liberated; at liberty to go.
      1913 webster

            set an unhappy prisoner free.         --prior.
      1913 webster

   5. not subjected to the laws of physical necessity; capable
      of voluntary activity; endowed with moral liberty; -- said
      of the will.
      1913 webster

            not free, what proof could they have given sincere
            of true allegiance, constant faith, or love.
                                                  --milton.
      1913 webster

   6. clear of offense or crime; guiltless; innocent.
      1913 webster

            my hands are guilty, but my heart is free. --dryden.
      1913 webster

   7. unconstrained by timidity or distrust; unreserved;
      ingenuous; frank; familiar; communicative.
      1913 webster

            he was free only with a few.          --milward.
      1913 webster

   8. unrestrained; immoderate; lavish; licentious; -- used in a
      bad sense.
      1913 webster

            the critics have been very free in their censures.
                                                  --felton.
      1913 webster

            a man may live a free life as to wine or women.
                                                  --shelley.
      1913 webster

   9. not close or parsimonious; liberal; open-handed; lavish;
      as, free with his money.
      1913 webster

   10. exempt; clear; released; liberated; not encumbered or
       troubled with; as, free from pain; free from a burden; --
       followed by from, or, rarely, by of.
       1913 webster

             princes declaring themselves free from the
             obligations of their treaties.       --bp. burnet.
       1913 webster

   11. characteristic of one acting without restraint; charming;
       easy.
       1913 webster

   12. ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping;
       spirited; as, a free horse.
       1913 webster

   13. invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying
       certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special
       rights; -- followed by of.
       1913 webster

             he therefore makes all birds, of every sect,
             free of his farm.                    --dryden.
       1913 webster

   14. thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed
       without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed,
       engrossed, or appropriated; open; -- said of a thing to
       be possessed or enjoyed; as, a free school.
       1913 webster

             why, sir, i pray, are not the streets as free
             for me as for you?                   --shak.
       1913 webster

   15. not gained by importunity or purchase; gratuitous;
       spontaneous; as, free admission; a free gift.
       1913 webster

   16. not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending
       individual rights against encroachment by any person or
       class; instituted by a free people; -- said of a
       government, institutions, etc.
       1913 webster

   17. o. eng. law certain or honorable; the opposite of
       base; as, free service; free socage. --burrill.
       1913 webster

   18. law privileged or individual; the opposite of common;
       as, a free fishery; a free warren. --burrill.
       1913 webster

   19. not united or combined with anything else; separated;
       dissevered; unattached; at liberty to escape; as, free
       carbonic acid gas; free cells.
       1913 webster

   free agency, the capacity or power of choosing or acting
      freely, or without necessity or constraint upon the will.
      

   free bench eng. law, a widow's right in the copyhold
      lands of her husband, corresponding to dower in freeholds.
      

   free board naut., a vessel's side between water line and
      gunwale.

   free bond chem., an unsaturated or unemployed unit, or
      bond, of affinity or valence, of an atom or radical.

   free-borough men o.eng. law. see friborg.

   free chapel eccles., a chapel not subject to the
      jurisdiction of the ordinary, having been founded by the
      king or by a subject specially authorized. eng.
      --bouvier.

   free charge elec., a charge of electricity in the free or
      statical condition; free electricity.

   free church.
       a a church whose sittings are for all and without
           charge.
       b an ecclesiastical body that left the church of
           scotland, in 1843, to be free from control by the
           government in spiritual matters.

   free city, or free town, a city or town independent in
      its government and franchises, as formerly those of the
      hanseatic league.

   free cost, freedom from charges or expenses. --south.

   free and easy, unconventional; unrestrained; regardless of
      formalities. colloq. "sal and her free and easy ways."
      --w. black.

   free goods, goods admitted into a country free of duty.

   free labor, the labor of freemen, as distinguished from
      that of slaves.

   free port. com.
       a a port where goods may be received and shipped free
           of custom duty.
       b a port where goods of all kinds are received from
           ships of all nations at equal rates of duty.

   free public house, in england, a tavern not belonging to a
      brewer, so that the landlord is free to brew his own beer
      or purchase where he chooses. --simmonds.

   free school.
       a a school to which pupils are admitted without
           discrimination and on an equal footing.
       b a school supported by general taxation, by
           endowmants, etc., where pupils pay nothing for
           tuition; a public school.

   free services o.eng. law, such feudal services as were
      not unbecoming the character of a soldier or a freemen to
      perform; as, to serve under his lord in war, to pay a sum
      of money, etc. --burrill.

   free ships, ships of neutral nations, which in time of war
      are free from capture even though carrying enemy's goods.
      

   free socage o.eng. law, a feudal tenure held by certain
      services which, though honorable, were not military.
      --abbott.

   free states, those of the united states before the civil
      war, in which slavery had ceased to exist, or had never
      existed.

   free stuff carp., timber free from knots; clear stuff.

   free thought, that which is thought independently of the
      authority of others.

   free trade, commerce unrestricted by duties or tariff
      regulations.

   free trader, one who believes in free trade.

   to make free with, to take liberties with; to help one's
      self to. colloq.

   to sail free naut., to sail with the yards not braced in
      as sharp as when sailing closehauled, or close to the
      wind.
      1913 webster
see also:
freer freest affray belfry friday friend 
frith base free agency free bench free board 
free bond free-borough men friborg free chapel free charge 
free church free city free town free cost free and easy 
free goods free labor free port free public house free school 
free services free ships free socage free states free stuff 
free thought free trade free trader to make free with to sail free 

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