Release | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Re-lēase', v. t.

verbtransitive

(re-lees'), v. t. [imp. & p. p. RELEASED (re-leest'); p. pr. & vb. n. RELEASING.] [Prefix re and lease, v. t.; O. Fr. relaisser, It. rilasciare, to release, to let free. See RELAY, n., and RELAX.]

Sense 1. To let loose again; to set free from restraint or confinement; to give liberty to; to let go.

Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. Mark xv. 6.

Sense 2. To relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses, as from pain, trouble, an obligation, and the like.

Sense 3. To let go, as a legal claim; to discharge or relinquish a right to, as lands or tenements, by conveying it to another that has some right or estate in possession, as when the person in remainder releases his right to the tenant in possession; to quit.

Sense 4. To loosen; to relax. [Obs.] Hooker.

Synonyms— To free; liberate; loose; discharge; quit; acquit.

Rē-lēase', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [Prefix re and lease.] To lease again; to grant a new lease of; to let back.

Re-lēase', n.

noun

n. 1. The act of letting loose or freeing, or the state of being let loose or freed; liberation or discharge from restraint of any kind, as from confinement or bondage. “Who boast’st release from hell?” Milton.

Relief from care, pain, or any burden.
Discharge from obligation or responsibility, as from debt, penalty, or claim of any kind; acquittance.
(Law.) A giving up or relinquishment of some right or claim; a conveyance of a man’s right in lands or tenements to another who has some estate in possession; a quitclaim. Blackstone.
(Steam-eng.) The act of opening the exhaust-port before the stroke is finished, in order to diminish the back-pressure.

Syn.—Liberation; freedom; discharge. See DEATH.