Free vs. Less

Freeadjective

(social) Unconstrained.

‘He was given free rein to do whatever he wanted.’;

Lessadverb

To a smaller extent.

Freeadjective

Not imprisoned or enslaved.

‘a free man’;

Lessadverb

In lower degree.

‘This is a less bad solution than I thought possible.’;

Freeadjective

Unconstrained by timidity or distrust

Lessadjective

; smaller, lesser.

Freeadjective

Generous; liberal.

‘He's very free with his money.’;

Lessadjective

comparative of little: a smaller amount (of); not as much.

‘I have less than you have.’; ‘I have less tea than coffee.’;

Freeadjective

(obsolete) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.

Lessadjective

(proscribed) lang=en: fewer; a smaller number of.

Freeadjective

Without obligations.

‘free time’;

Lesspreposition

Minus; not including

‘It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.’;

Freeadjective

Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.

‘a free school’;

Lessverb

(obsolete) To make less; to lessen.

Freeadjective

Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.

‘This is a free country.’;

Lessconjunction

(obsolete) unless

Freeadjective

(software) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.

‘OpenOffice is free software.’;

Lessconjunction

Unless.

Freeadjective

(software) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.

Lessadjective

Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter; inferior; as, a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value; in less time than before.

‘Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the coming of Augustine, all England became Christian.’;

Freeadjective

Obtainable without any payment.

‘The government provides free health care.’;

Lessadverb

Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or loud; less beautiful.

Freeadjective

complimentary

‘Buy a TV to get a free DVD player!’;

Lessnoun

A smaller portion or quantity.

‘The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.’;

Freeadjective

(abstract) Unconstrained.

Lessnoun

The inferior, younger, or smaller.

‘The less is blessed of the better.’;

Freeadjective

(mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.

‘the free group on three generators’;

Lessverb

To make less; to lessen.

Freeadjective

Unconstrained by quantifiers.

‘$z$ is the free variable in $\backslash forall\; x\backslash exists\; y:xy=z$.’;

Lessadjective

(comparative of `little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree;

‘of less importance’; ‘less time to spend with the family’; ‘a shower uses less water’; ‘less than three years old’;

Freeadjective

(programming) Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound.

Lessadjective

(usually preceded by `no') lower in quality;

‘no less than perfect’;

Freeadjective

(linguistics) of a morpheme That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.

Lessadjective

(usually preceded by `no') lower in esteem;

‘no less a person than the king himself’;

Freeadjective

(physical) Unconstrained.

Lessadjective

(nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer;

‘less than three weeks’; ‘no less than 50 people attended’; ‘in 25 words or less’;

Freeadjective

Unobstructed, without blockages.

‘the drain was free’;

Lessadverb

used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs;

‘less interesting’; ‘less expensive’; ‘less quickly’;

Freeadjective

Unattached or uncombined.

‘a free radical’;

Lessadverb

comparative of little;

‘she walks less than she should’; ‘he works less these days’;

Freeadjective

Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.

‘You can sit on this chair; it's free.’;

Freeadjective

Not attached; loose.

‘In this group of mushrooms, the gills are free.’;

Freeadjective

Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.

‘We had a wholesome, filling meal, free of meat.’; ‘I would like to live free from care in the mountains.’;

Freeadjective

(dated) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.

‘a free horse’;

Freeadjective

(dated) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of.

Freeadjective

Certain or honourable; the opposite of base.

‘free service;’; ‘free socage’;

Freeadjective

(legal) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common.

‘a free fishery;’; ‘a free warren’;

Freeadverb

Without needing to pay.

‘I got this bike free.’;

Freeadverb

(obsolete) Freely; willingly.

Freeverb

(transitive) To make free; set at liberty; release.

Freeverb

(transitive) To rid of something that confines or oppresses.

Freenoun

abbreviation of free kick

Freenoun

free transfer

Freenoun

(hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.

Freeadjective

Exempt from subjection to the will of others; not under restraint, control, or compulsion; able to follow one's own impulses, desires, or inclinations; determining one's own course of action; not dependent; at liberty.

‘That which has the power, or not the power, to operate, is that alone which is or is not free.’;

Freeadjective

Not under an arbitrary or despotic government; subject only to fixed laws regularly and fairly administered, and defended by them from encroachments upon natural or acquired rights; enjoying political liberty.

Freeadjective

Liberated, by arriving at a certain age, from the control of parents, guardian, or master.

Freeadjective

Not confined or imprisoned; released from arrest; liberated; at liberty to go.

‘Set an unhappy prisoner free.’;

Freeadjective

Not subjected to the laws of physical necessity; capable of voluntary activity; endowed with moral liberty; - said of the will.

‘Not free, what proof could they have given sincereOf true allegiance, constant faith, or love.’;

Freeadjective

Clear of offense or crime; guiltless; innocent.

‘My hands are guilty, but my heart is free.’;

Freeadjective

Unconstrained by timidity or distrust; unreserved; ingenuous; frank; familiar; communicative.

‘He was free only with a few.’;

Freeadjective

Unrestrained; immoderate; lavish; licentious; - used in a bad sense.

‘The critics have been very free in their censures.’; ‘A man may live a free life as to wine or women.’;

Freeadjective

Not close or parsimonious; liberal; open-handed; lavish; as, free with his money.

Freeadjective

Exempt; clear; released; liberated; not encumbered or troubled with; as, free from pain; free from a burden; - followed by from, or, rarely, by of.

‘Princes declaring themselves free from the obligations of their treaties.’;

Freeadjective

Characteristic of one acting without restraint; charming; easy.

Freeadjective

Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited; as, a free horse.

Freeadjective

Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; - followed by of.

‘He therefore makes all birds, of every sect,Free of his farm.’;

Freeadjective

Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; - said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed; as, a free school.

‘Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as freeFor me as for you?’;

Freeadjective

Not gained by importunity or purchase; gratuitous; spontaneous; as, free admission; a free gift.

Freeadjective

Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; - said of a government, institutions, etc.

Freeadjective

Certain or honorable; the opposite of base; as, free service; free socage.

Freeadjective

Privileged or individual; the opposite of common; as, a free fishery; a free warren.

Freeadjective

Not united or combined with anything else; separated; dissevered; unattached; at liberty to escape; as, free carbonic acid gas; free cells.

Freeadverb

Freely; willingly.

‘I as free forgive youAs I would be forgiven.’;

Freeadverb

Without charge; as, children admitted free.

Freeverb

To make free; to set at liberty; to rid of that which confines, limits, embarrasses, oppresses, etc.; to release; to disengage; to clear; - followed by from, and sometimes by off; as, to free a captive or a slave; to be freed of these inconveniences.

‘Our land is from the rage of tigers freed.’; ‘Arise, . . . free thy people from their yoke.’;

Freeverb

To remove, as something that confines or bars; to relieve from the constraint of.

‘This master keyFrees every lock, and leads us to his person.’;

Freeverb

To frank.

Freenoun

people who are free;

‘the home of the free and the brave’;

Freeverb

grant freedom to; free from confinement

Freeverb

relieve from;

‘Rid the the house of pests’;

Freeverb

remove or force out from a position;

‘The dentist dislodged the piece of food that had been stuck under my gums’; ‘He finally could free the legs of the earthquake victim who was buried in the rubble’;

Freeverb

grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to;

‘She exempted me from the exam’;

Freeverb

make (information) available publication;

‘release the list with the names of the prisoners’;

Freeverb

free from obligations or duties

Freeverb

free or remove obstruction from;

‘free a path across the cluttered floor’;

Freeverb

let off the hook;

‘I absolve you from this responsibility’;

Freeverb

part with a possession or right;

‘I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest’; ‘resign a claim to the throne’;

Freeverb

make (assets) available;

‘release the holdings in the dictator's bank account’;

Freeadjective

able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint;

‘free enterprise’; ‘a free port’; ‘a free country’; ‘I have an hour free’; ‘free will’; ‘free of racism’; ‘feel free to stay as long as you wish’; ‘a free choice’;

Freeadjective

unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion;

‘free expansion’; ‘free oxygen’; ‘a free electron’;

Freeadjective

costing nothing;

‘complimentary tickets’;

Freeadjective

not occupied or in use;

‘a free locker’; ‘a free lane’;

Freeadjective

not fixed in position;

‘the detached shutter fell on him’; ‘he pulled his arm free and ran’;

Freeadjective

not held in servitude;

‘after the Civil War he was a free man’;

Freeadjective

not taken up by scheduled activities;

‘a free hour between classes’; ‘spare time on my hands’;

Freeadjective

not literal;

‘a loose interpretation of what she had been told’; ‘a free translation of the poem’;

Freeadverb

without restraint;

‘cows in India are running loose’;

Freeadjective

able to act or be done as one wishes; not under the control of another

‘I have no ambitions other than to have a happy life and be free’; ‘a free choice’;

Freeadjective

able or permitted to take a specified action

‘you are free to leave’;

Freeadjective

(of a state or its citizens or institutions) subject neither to foreign domination nor to despotic government

‘a free press’;

Freeadjective

not a slave

‘the poor among the free men joined the slaves against the rich’;

Freeadjective

denoting an ethnic or political group actively opposing an occupying or invading force, in particular the groups that continued resisting the Germans in the Second World War after the fall of their countries

‘the Free Dutch, Free Polish, and Free Norwegian fleets’;

Freeadjective

not or no longer confined or imprisoned

‘police were forced to let him walk free’; ‘the researchers set the birds free’;

Freeadjective

not physically obstructed or fixed

‘he tried to kick his legs free’; ‘she smiled, leaned back, and waved a free arm in the air’;

Freeadjective

(of power or energy) disengaged or available.

Freeadjective

not bound in an atom, a molecule, or a compound

‘the atmosphere of that time contained virtually no free oxygen’;

Freeadjective

denoting a linguistic form that can be used in isolation.

Freeadjective

not subject to engagements or obligations

‘she spent her free time shopping’;

Freeadjective

(of a facility or piece of equipment) not occupied or in use

‘the bathroom was free’;

Freeadjective

not subject to or affected by (something undesirable)

‘our salsas are free of preservatives’;

Freeadjective

given or available without charge

‘free health care’;

Freeadjective

using or expending something without restraint; lavish

‘she was always free with her money’;

Freeadjective

frank or unrestrained in speech, expression, or action

‘he was free in his talk of revolution’;

Freeadjective

overfamiliar or forward.

Freeadjective

(of literature or music) not observing the normal conventions of style or form.

Freeadjective

(of a translation) conveying only the broad sense; not literal.

Freeadjective

(of the wind) blowing from a favourable direction to the side or aft of a vessel.

Freeadverb

without cost or payment

‘ladies were admitted free’;

Freeadverb

with the sheets eased

‘I kept her off the wind and sailing free until I had all square forward’;

Freeverb

release from confinement or slavery

‘they were freed from jail’;

Freeverb

release from physical obstruction or restraint

‘she struggled to free herself from the tenacious mud’; ‘I had to tug hard and at last freed him’;

Freeverb

remove something undesirable or restrictive from

‘his inheritance freed him from financial constraints’; ‘free your body of excess tension’;

Freeverb

make available for a particular purpose

‘we are freeing management time for alternative work’;