Websters 1828 Dictionary [A-J] free FREE, n. Heb. See Frank. 1. Being at liberty; not being under necessity or restraint, physical or moral; a word of general application to the body, the will or mind, and to corporations. 2. In government, not enslaved; not in a state of vassalage or dependence; subject only to fixed laws, made by consent, and to a regular administration of such laws; not subject to the arbitrary will of a sovereign or lord; as a free state, nation or people. 3. Instituted by a free people, or by consent or choice of those who are to be subjects, and securing private rights and privileges by fixed laws and principles; not arbitrary or despotic; as a free constitution or government. There can be no free government without a democratical branch in the constitution. 4. Not imprisoned, confined or under arrest; as, the prisoner is set free. 5. Unconstrained; unrestrained; not under compulsion or control. A man is free to pursue his own choice; he enjoys free will. 6. Permitted; allowed; open; not appropriated; as, places of honor and confidence are free to all; we seldom hear of a commerce perfectly free. 7. Not obstructed; as, the water has a free passage or channel; the house is open to a free current of air. 8. Licentious; unrestrained. The reviewer is very free in his censures. 9. Open; candid; frank; ingenuous; unreserved; as, we had a free conversation together. Will you be free and candid to your friend? 10. Liberal in expenses; not parsimonious; as a free purse; a man is free to give to all useful institutions. 11. Gratuitous; not gained by importunity or purchase. He made him a free offer of his services. It is a free gift. The salvation of men is of free grace. 12. Clear of crime or offense; guiltless; innocent. My hands are guilty, but my heart is free. 13. Not having feeling or suffering; clear; exempt; with from; as free from pain or disease; free from remorse. 14. Not encumbered with; as free from a burden. 15. Open to all, without restriction or without expense; as a free school. 16. Invested with franchises; enjoying certain immunities; with of; as a man free of the city of London. 17. Possessing without vassalage or slavish conditions; as free of his farm. 18. Liberated from the government or control of parents, or of a guardian or master. A son or an apprentice, when of age, is free. 19. Ready; eager; not dull; acting without spurring or shipping; as a free horse. 20. Genteel; charming. Not in use. FREE, v.t. 1. To remove from a thing any encumbrance or obstruction; to disengage from; to rid; to strip; to clear; as, to free the body from clothes; to free the feet from fetters; to free a channel from sand. 2. To set at liberty; to rescue or release from slavery, captivity or confinement; to loose. The prisoner is freed from arrest. 3. To disentangle; to disengage. 4. To exempt. He that is dead is freed from sin. Rom. 6. 5. To manumit; to release from bondage; as, to free a slave. 6. To clear from water, as a ship by pumping. 7. To release from obligation or duty. To free from or free of, is to rid of, by removing, in any manner.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:42:24 +0000
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