free ridenoun
free
adverb
uk /friː/us
without having to pay for something:
They are then given a business account free of charge by the bank.
You can access the online database for free.
free
verb[ T ]
uk /friː/us
to make something available for someone to use:
free (up) sthThe chairman has promised tough action to cut costs and free up funds to grow core businesses.
to remove the limits or controls on someone or something:
free sth from sthThe basic aim is to free the housing market from council control.
-free
suffix
(alsofree)
used at the end of words to mean 'without':
It is supposed to be virtually pollution-free and produce both electricity and hydrogen.
The returns are not risk-free.
tax-/interest-/duty-freeYour husband could put the money in a tax-free cash ISA.

Examples of free

free
Indeed, like many newly freed people, they considered parties almost illegitimate threats to national unity.
In this situation, it frees writers from the effort of investigating their themes and encourages them to rely on a ready-made solution.
The sculptor's thought is freed to be completely three-dimensional.
They take the postmodernist achievement to be one which conveniently frees theological conservatism from the uncomfortable pressures of secular, rationalist criticism.
They would often be put in the stocks until they sobered up, but they would invariably lapse again as soon as they were freed.
Though advertising revenue freed the press from direct political control, it introduced its own form of constraints on an expanding press in the 20th century.
The healing process involves correcting imbalances and freeing blockages, thus restoring a proper energy flow through the body.
If a whole industry is swept aside because of failing entrepreneurship, resources would be freed for other, expanding sectors.
The divine was consequently freed from any responsibility for such prodigies.
If the sustainable catch is fixed, improved technical efficiency is a benefit only if resources are freed from the catching sector for productive use elsewhere.
On the other hand, some leaders of the scientific community supported freer scientific research on human embryos.
The patient is simply freed from being held prisoner by the current state of the art of medical technology.
Giving internalization a superior status might have freed it from many old debates.
The exception are aristocrats, who are served by a sufficient number of other people to be freed of this daily burden.
The alternative, they argue, is to let the great mass of people engage in market processes, freeing themselves from such dependency.
See all examples of free
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.