Freeness

free  (fr)

adj. fre·er, fre·est

1. Not imprisoned or enslaved; being at liberty.

2. Not controlled by obligation or the will of another: felt free to go.

3.

a. Having political independence: "America . . . is the freest and wealthiest nation in the world" (Rudolph W. Giuliani).

b. Governed by consent and possessing or granting civil liberties: a free citizenry.

c. Not subject to arbitrary interference by a government: a free press.

4.

a. Not affected or restricted by a given condition or circumstance: a healthy animal, free of disease; free from need.

b. Not subject to a given condition; exempt: income that is free of all taxes.

5. Not subject to external restraint: "Comment is free but facts are sacred" (Charles Prestwich Scott).

6. Not literal or exact: a free translation.

7.

a. Costing nothing; gratuitous: a free meal.

b. Publicly supported: free education.

8.

a. Not occupied or used: a free locker.

b. Not taken up by scheduled activities: free time between classes.

9. Unobstructed; clear: a free lane.

10. Unguarded in expression or manner; open; frank.

11. Taking undue liberties; forward or overfamiliar.

12. Liberal or lavish: tourists who are free with their money.

13. Given, made, or done of one's own accord; voluntary or spontaneous: a free act of the will; free choices.

14. Chemistry & Physics

a. Unconstrained; unconfined: free expansion.

b. Not fixed in position; capable of relatively unrestricted motion: a free electron.

c. Not chemically bound in a molecule: free oxygen.

d. Involving no collisions or interactions: a free path.

e. Empty: a free space.

f. Unoccupied: a free energy level.

15. Nautical Favorable: a free wind.

16. Not bound, fastened, or attached: the free end of a chain.

17. Linguistics

a. Being a form, especially a morpheme, that can stand as an independent word, such as boat or bring.

b. Being a vowel in an open syllable, as the o in go.

adv.

1. In a free manner; without restraint.

2. Without charge.

tr.v. freed, free·ing, frees

1. To set at liberty; make free: freed the slaves; free the imagination.

2. To relieve of a burden, obligation, or restraint: a people who were at last freed from fear.

3. To remove obstructions or entanglements from; clear: free a path through the jungle.

Idiom:

for free Informal

Without charge.

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[Middle English fre, from Old English fro. V., from Middle English freen, from Old English fron, to love, set free; see pr- in Indo-European roots.]

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freely adv.

freeness n.