A, #ft IS (ft B&0 What do you like to do in your free time (= when you are not working)?

►                  READY TO GIVE A ft * p ft 12 ~ with sth (often disap­proving) ready to give sth, especially when it is not wanted ^ftinTfc(ft: He’s too free with his opinions, ilk

►                  TRANSLATION Hi? 13a free translation is not exact but

gives the general meaning                   ( Hi# ) fll#§

; lci##J — compare literal(2) iTTT^l free and 'easy informal; relaxed RIM; AJfrjA;

g A g W: Life was never going to be so free and easy again.     get, have,

etc. a free 'hand to get, have, etc. the opportunity to do what you want to do and to make your own decisions         ftgftlft I was given a free

hand in designing the syllabus. $ 7H dk $. AJ iT Wt ^ fzMc get, take, etc. a free 'ride to get or take sth without paying because sb else is paying for it ^ 0 # fijjftjk ( BftABftftt#; ) 't’s a free 'country (informal) used as a reply when sb suggests that you should not do sth (        ) itJiftgEhlft

Eg M: It’s a free country; I’ll say what I like!        g &

iftSIft        f'A\ there’s no such .thing

as a free 'lunch (informal) used to say that it is not possible to get sth for nothing ( WAS# AM HAW is (ft ) '$:A%^(ftzF# — more at home adv., rein n.

• verb

►                  PRISONER (AHE 1 [VN] ~ sb (from sth) to allow sb to leave

prison or somewhere they have been kept against their will Mtk; ft g A HTTI release : By the end of May nearly 100 of an estimated 2 000 political prisoners had been freed.         ft if 2 000     100 A

0 The hijackers agreed to free a further ten

hostages.

►                  SB/STH TRAPPED M ft (ft A / tl 2 [VN] ~ sb/sth/yourself

(from sth) to move sb/sth that is caught or fixed on sth M; ftM 333 release : Three people were freed from the wreckage. fHAff         o She struggled

to free herself. MmtEfeAJ&Jft

►                  REMOVE STH ft [ft ft tf 3 [VN] ~ sb/sth of/from sb/sth to remove sth that is unpleasant or not wanted from sb/sth ( gcAif ) EHUrid: These exercises help free the body of tension,

0 o The police are determined to free the town of violent crime. Ai^$cll(ft4l  0 The

centre aims to free young people from dependency on drugs. ^^^(ft0(ft^¥^Aft?^#.a^#OI«i[o

►                  MAKE AVAILABLE ftJJEjftnJffl 4 [VN] ~ sb/sth (up) to make sb/sth available for a particular purpose ft W ( ft ft @ (ft ) : We freed time each week for a project meeting.

@      0 The government

has promised to free up more resources for education.

5 [VN to inf] to give sb the extra time to do sth that they want to do ftfgjjftB Bt |h] : Winning the prize freed him to paint full-time. $£

m adv.

►                  WITHOUT PAYMENT    1 (also .free of charge)

without payment : Children under five travel free.

►                  NOT TRAPPED A l±l ft 2 away from or out of a position

in which sb/sth is stuck or trapped ^ A % : The wagon broke free from the train. AffiilftriS TM

ft0 — see also scot-free

IT»I?7I make free with sth (disapproving) to use sth a lot, even though it does not belong to you ft.llftftiftA^ H°n run 'free (of an animal ijj %) to be allowed to go where it likes; not tied to anything or kept in a cage AA^A; A^:— more at WALK V.

.free 'agent noun a person who can do whatever they want because they are not responsible to or for anyone elseftg±&(ftA; fi^g&lftA

free-base /‘friibeis/ noun [U] (slang) a specially prepared form of the powerful illegal drug cocaine ffi'j&WAS

free-bas ing /'friibeisirj/ noun [U] (slang) the activity of smoking freebase

free bie /'friibi/ noun (informal) something that is given to sb without payment, usually by a company (

Wiiiftlft )     : He took all the freebies that were on

offer. ft®. 7 W# W m0 O a freebie holiday

free-boot-er /'fri:bu:ta(r)/ noun a person who takes part in a war in order to steal goods and money (ft Aft'S ► free-boot-ing adj., noun [U]

free-born /'friiboin; NAmE -bo:m/ adj. [only before noun]

(formal) not bom as a slave ft A g & (ft; ft A g A &(ft .Free 'Church noun a Christian Church that does not belong to the established Church in a particular country g ( AUftSllfc)

‘free climbing noun [U] the sport of climbing steep rock surfaces using very little equipment to help you ft — compare aid climbing free-dom /'friidam/ noun 1 [U, C] ~ (of sth) the right to do or say what you want without anyone stopping you ( te A'J ) g A : freedom ofspeech/thought/expression/worship Wife / MW. /          / ftfft g th 0 a threat to press/academic, etc.

freedom       g I WIi o rights and

freedoms guaranteed by the constitution ffl g A 2 [U, sing.] ~ (of sth) | ~ (to do sth) the state of being able to do what you want, without anything stopping you ( ta & ) g A : freedom of action/ choice ft j# g A o complete freedom to do as you wish g BI®A>W^ gio Thanks to the auto­mobile, Americans soon had a freedom of movement previously unknown. & ft W 7 /v ft,

7flkff AWftJft^J g A o 3 [U] the state of not being a prisoner or slave g & Kite fit ( AH02E     ) : He

finally won his freedom after twenty years in jail. ft 1317 4 [U] ~ from sth the

state of not being affected by the thing mentioned . W     freedom from fear/

pain/hunger, etc. AftiS'li, -lift,         5 [sing.] the

~ of sth permission to use sth without restriction g A I was given the freedom of the whole house. g      UMI the freedom of the

'city (in Britain) an honour that is given to sb by a city as a reward for work they have done ( ;ft[g ) ft — see also freeman — more at manoeuvre n. 'freedom fighter noun a name used to describe a person who uses violence to try to remove a govern­ment from power, by people who support this g &

(ZWMmMmnmmBtmm wwai —compare

GUERRILLA

.freedom of as'sembly noun [u] the right to have public meetings which is guaranteed by law in the US 3S£g.ift (J .freedom of association noun [u] the right to meet people and to form organizations without needing permission from the government g & (

)

.freedom of infor mation noun [u] the right to see any information that a government has about people and organizations ffS g i

Rmmmmm)

.free 'enterprise noun [U] an economic system in which private businesses compete with each other without much government control g & dk ik ( ft ffrJ ) — compare private enterprise free fall noun [U] 1 the movement of an object or a person falling through the air without engine power or a parachute ( A^c#j(ft ) g&TH: a free fall display g&TiilA$!2a sudden drop in the value of sth that cannot be stopped ( Ifrfjt )  1#Aik: Share prices have

gone into free fall.

.free-'floating adj. not attached to or controlled by anything g & # zj] (ft: a free-floating exchange rate g

Free-fone™ noun [u] = Freephone 'free-for-all noun [sing] 1 a situation in which there are no rules or controls and everyone acts for their own advantage A ft If $!]; g & ft; The lowering of trade barriers has led to a free-for-all among exporters.

P g fl$t0 2 a noisy fight or argumen