From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Release \Re*lease"\ (r?-l?s"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Released}
(r?*l?st"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Releasing}.] [OE. relessen, OF.
relassier, to release, to let free. See {Relay}, n., {Relax},
and cf. {Release} to lease again.]
1. To let loose again; to set free from restraint,
confinement, or servitude; to give liberty to, or to set
at liberty; to let go.
[1913 Webster]
Now at that feast he released unto them one
prisoner, whomsoever they desired. --Mark xv. 6.
[1913 Webster]
2. To relieve from something that confines, burdens, or
oppresses, as from pain, trouble, obligation, penalty.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) To let go, as a legal claim; to discharge or
relinquish a right to, as lands or tenements, by conveying
to another who has some right or estate in possession, as
when the person in remainder releases his right to the
tenant in possession; to quit.
[1913 Webster]
4. To loosen; to relax; to remove the obligation of; as, to
release an ordinance. [Obs.] --Hooker.
[1913 Webster]
A sacred vow that none should aye release.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To free; liberate; loose; discharge; disengage;
extricate; let go; quit; acquit.
[1913 Webster]
|
