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released - 3 dictionary results

re-lease

  [ree-lees] verb, -leased, -leas⋅ing, noun
Use released in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to lease again.
2. Law. to make over (land, property, etc.), as to another.
–noun
3. a contract for re-leasing land or property.
4. the land or property re-leased.
Origin:
1820–30; re- + lease

re⋅lease

  [ri-lees] verb, -leased, -leas⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to free from confinement, bondage, obligation, pain, etc.; let go: to release a prisoner; to release someone from a debt.
2. to free from anything that restrains, fastens, etc.: to release a catapult.
3. to allow to be known, issued, done, or exhibited: to release an article for publication.
4. Law. to give up, relinquish, or surrender (a right, claim, etc.).
–noun
5. a freeing or releasing from confinement, obligation, pain, emotional strain, etc.
6. liberation from anything that restrains or fastens.
7. some device or agency for effecting such liberation.
8. a grant of permission, as to publish, use, or sell something.
9. the releasing of something for publication, performance, use, exhibition, or sale.
10. the film, book, record, etc., that is released.
11. press release.
12. Law.
a. the surrender of a right or the like to another.
b. a document embodying such a surrender.
13. Law Obsolete. a remission, as of a debt, tax, or tribute.
14. Machinery.
a. a control mechanism for starting or stopping a machine, esp. by removing some restrictive apparatus.
b. the opening of an exhaust port or valve at or near the working stroke of an engine so that the working fluid can be exhausted on the return stroke.
c. the point in the stroke of an engine at which the exhaust port or valve is opened.
15. (in jazz or popular music) a bridge.
Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) ME reles(s)en < OF relesser, relaissier < L relaxāre to loosen (see relax ); (n.) ME reles(e) < OF reles, relais, deriv. of relesser, relaisser

Related forms:
re⋅leas⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
re⋅leas⋅a⋅ble, re⋅leas⋅i⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. loose, deliver. Release, free, dismiss, discharge, liberate, emancipate may all mean to set at liberty, let loose, or let go. Release and free, when applied to persons, suggest a helpful action. Both may be used (not always interchangeably) of delivering a person from confinement or obligation: to free or release prisoners. Free (less often, release) is also used for delivering a person from pain, sorrow, etc.: to free from fear. Dismiss, meaning to send away, usually has the meaning of forcing to go unwillingly (to dismiss a servant), but may refer to giving permission to go: The teacher dismissed the class early. Discharge, meaning originally to relieve of a burden (to discharge a gun), has come to refer to that which is sent away, and is often a close synonym to dismiss; it is used in the meaning permit to go in connection with courts and the armed forces: The court discharged a man accused of robbery. Liberate and emancipate, more formal synonyms for release and free, also suggest action intended to be helpful. Liberate suggests particularly the release from unjust punishment, oppression, and the like, and often means to set free through forcible action or military campaign: They liberated the prisoners, the occupied territories, etc. Emancipate also suggests a release of some size and consequence, but one that is less overt, a more formal or legal freedom; and it sometimes connotes an inner liberation: Lincoln emancipated the slaves. John emancipated himself. 2. loose, extricate, disengage. 3. announce, publish. 5. liberation, deliverance, emancipation.

Antonyms:
1. bind. 2. fasten.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To released
re·lease   (rĭ-lēs')   
tr.v.   re·leased, re·leas·ing, re·leas·es
  1. To set free from confinement, restraint, or bondage: released the prisoners.
  2. To free from something that binds, fastens, or holds back; let go: released the balloons; released a flood of questions.
  3. To dismiss, as from a job.
  4. To relieve of debt or obligation.
  5. To relieve of care and suffering.
    1. To issue for performance, sale, publication, or distribution.
    2. To make known or available.
  7. To relinquish (a right or claim).
n.  
  1. A deliverance or liberation, as from confinement, restraint, or suffering.
  2. An authoritative discharge, as from an obligation or from prison.
  3. An unfastening or letting go of something caught or held fast.
  4. A device or catch for locking or releasing a mechanism.
    1. The act or an instance of issuing something for publication, use, or distribution.
    2. Something thus released: a new release of a software program.
    3. The condition of being available, in use, or in publication: a movie in wide release.
    4. Relinquishment to another of a right, title, or claim.
    5. The document authorizing such relinquishment.
  6. Law
    1. Relinquishment to another of a right, title, or claim.
    2. The document authorizing such relinquishment.
  7. Linguistics The movement of a vocal organ or organs so as to end the closure of a stop consonant.

[Middle English relesen, from Old French relaissier, alteration of relacher, from Latin relaxāre; see relax.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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