release

release [ri lēs′]

vt.

released, releasing [ME relesen < OFr relaisser < L relaxare: see RELAX]

1. to set free, as from confinement, duty, work, etc.

2. to let go or let loose [to release an arrow]

3. to grant freedom from a tax, penalty, obligation, etc.

4. to set free from pain, cares, etc.; relieve

☆ 5. to permit to be issued, shown, published, broadcast, etc.; put into circulation

6. Law to give up or surrender to someone else (a claim, right, etc.)

n.

1. a setting free or being set free; deliverance; liberation

2. a freeing or being freed from a tax, obligation, etc.

3.

a) a relief from pain, cares, etc.

b) relief from emotional tension through a spontaneous, uninhibited expression of an emotion

4. a document authorizing release, as from an obligation, from prison, etc.

5. the act of letting loose something caught, held in position, etc.

6. a device to release a catch, etc., as for starting or stopping a machine

7.

☆ a) the act of releasing a book, film, news story, etc. to the public

b) the book, film, news story, etc. released

8. Music

a) the act or method of ending a tone

☆ b) the third group of eight measures in a common form of 32-bar chorus, as in a popular tune, which supplies a bridge between repetitions of the melody

9. Law

a) a giving up or surrender to someone else, as of a claim or right

b) the document by which this is done; quitclaim

SYN.- FREE