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.
That which has the power, or not the power, to operate, is that alone which is or is not free.
Locke. 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.
3. Liberated, by arriving at a certain age, from the control of parents, guardian, or master.
4. Not confined or imprisoned; released from arrest; liberated; at liberty to go.
Set an unhappy prisoner free.
Prior. 5. Not subjected to the laws of physical necessity; capable of voluntary activity; endowed with moral liberty; —
said of the will.
Not free, what proof could they have given sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love.
Milton. 6. Clear of offense or crime; guiltless; innocent.
My hands are guilty, but my heart is free.
Dryden. 7. Unconstrained by timidity or distrust; unreserved; ingenuous; frank; familiar; communicative.
He was free only with a few.
Milward. 8. Unrestrained; immoderate; lavish; licentious; — used in a bad sense.
The critics have been very free in their censures.
Felton.
A man may live a free life as to wine or women.
Shelley. 9. Not close or parsimonious; liberal; open- handed; lavish; as, free with his money.
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.
Princes declaring themselves free from the obligations of their treaties.
Bp. Burnet. 11. Characteristic of one acting without restraint; charming; easy.
12. Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited; as, a free horse.
13. Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to
special rights; — followed by of.
He therefore makes all birds, of every sect,
Free of his farm.
Dryden. 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.
Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as free
For me as for you?
Shak. 15. Not gained by importunity or purchase; gratuitous; spontaneous; as, free admission; a free gift.
