Webster's English Dictionary

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release

Cross references:
  1. free                  
 
1. re.lease \ri-'le-s\ vt [ME relesen, fr. OF relessier, fr. L relaxare to 
   relax] 1: to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude  2: to 
   relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses  3: to give up 
   in favor of another : RELINQUISH {~ a claim  to property} 4: to give 
   permission for publication, performance, exhibition, or sale of  on but not 
   before a specified date
2. release n 1: relief or deliverance from sorrow, suffering, or trouble  
   2a: discharge from obligation or responsibility  2b1: relinquishment of a 
   right or claim  2b2: an act by which a legal right is discharged; specif : 
   a convey ance of a right in lands or tenements to another having an estate 
   in possession 3a: the act or an instance of liberating or freeing  3b: the 
   act or manner of concluding a musical tone or phrase or ending a so und 4: 
   an instrument effecting a legal release  5a: the permitting of a working 
   fluid (as steam) to escape from the cylinde r at the end of the working 
   stroke 5b: the point in a cycle at which this act occurs  6: the state of 
   being freed  7: a device adapted to hold or release a mechanism as required 
    8a: the act of permitting performance or publication  8b: the matter 
   released; esp : a statement prepared for the press