See free rein in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for free rein meaning in English (5.6kB)
{
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "free rein (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"tags": [
"common",
"proscribed",
"sometimes"
],
"word": "free reign"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1884, Elizabeth Platt Karr, The American Horsewoman, page 256",
"text": "she should simply hold the reins so lightly that his mouth can just be felt, which is called \"giving a free rein.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1910, Virgil (translated into English by Theodore C. Williams), page 8,\nSo ceased the sea's uproar, when its grave Sire\nLooked o'er th' expanse, and, riding on in light,\nFlung free rein to his winged obedient car."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Loose rein(s), as of a horse."
],
"id": "en-free_rein-en-noun-LhIQI-0L",
"links": [
[
"rein",
"rein"
],
[
"horse",
"horse"
]
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"word": "rein in"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"word": "free hand"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"word": "draw rein"
}
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "43 57",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1790, Thomas Pennant, Of London, page 47",
"text": "Chaucer gave a free rein to his poetical mirth",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1861 August 6, “SLAVERY AND THE WAR.,SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS, ESQ., AT THE CELEBRATION OF WEST INDIES EMANCIPATION”, in New York Times",
"text": "Help the Government to dare to give free rein to the ardor of the people.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1913, Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, page 647",
"text": "securing for himself an undivided authority and a free rein for his profligacy.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487",
"text": "Such hedging is necessitated by the lack of in-depth knowledge of the contents, which also gives free rein to the scripting of unsubstantiated factoids concerning the book.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 July 21, Phil Gates, “Country diary: this forgotten grassland is a butterfly Serengeti”, in The Guardian",
"text": "If I give my imagination free rein on this sultry afternoon, I could almost believe this shoulder-high grassland – a shimmering sea of false oat, cock’s-foot and meadow foxtail – is African savanna.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 August 6, A. A. Dowd, “The Ryan Reynolds action-comedy Free Guy is a Truman Show for the Fortnite age”, in The A.V. Club",
"text": "Free City is, by design, a generic multiplayer sandbox—it’s supposed to look like any and every free-rein video game metropolis.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The absence of constraints; freedom to make decisions."
],
"id": "en-free_rein-en-noun-DRlfVFY5",
"links": [
[
"absence",
"absence"
],
[
"constraint",
"constraint"
],
[
"freedom",
"freedom"
],
[
"decision",
"decision"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) The absence of constraints; freedom to make decisions."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "vrijbrief"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"plural"
],
"word": "vapaat kädet"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "champ libre"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "carte blanche"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "a briglia sciolta"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "campo libero"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "carta bianca"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "wolna ręka"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "carta branca"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "svoboda dejstvij",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "свобода действий"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "razularenost"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "a rètini scioti"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"vulgar"
],
"word": "a minchia china"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "carta blanca"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "rienda suelta"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "barra libre"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "fria tyglar"
}
]
}
],
"word": "free rein"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"derived": [
{
"tags": [
"common",
"proscribed",
"sometimes"
],
"word": "free reign"
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "free rein (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "rein in"
},
{
"word": "free hand"
},
{
"word": "draw rein"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1884, Elizabeth Platt Karr, The American Horsewoman, page 256",
"text": "she should simply hold the reins so lightly that his mouth can just be felt, which is called \"giving a free rein.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"text": "1910, Virgil (translated into English by Theodore C. Williams), page 8,\nSo ceased the sea's uproar, when its grave Sire\nLooked o'er th' expanse, and, riding on in light,\nFlung free rein to his winged obedient car."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Loose rein(s), as of a horse."
],
"links": [
[
"rein",
"rein"
],
[
"horse",
"horse"
]
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1790, Thomas Pennant, Of London, page 47",
"text": "Chaucer gave a free rein to his poetical mirth",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1861 August 6, “SLAVERY AND THE WAR.,SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS, ESQ., AT THE CELEBRATION OF WEST INDIES EMANCIPATION”, in New York Times",
"text": "Help the Government to dare to give free rein to the ardor of the people.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1913, Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, page 647",
"text": "securing for himself an undivided authority and a free rein for his profligacy.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487",
"text": "Such hedging is necessitated by the lack of in-depth knowledge of the contents, which also gives free rein to the scripting of unsubstantiated factoids concerning the book.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 July 21, Phil Gates, “Country diary: this forgotten grassland is a butterfly Serengeti”, in The Guardian",
"text": "If I give my imagination free rein on this sultry afternoon, I could almost believe this shoulder-high grassland – a shimmering sea of false oat, cock’s-foot and meadow foxtail – is African savanna.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 August 6, A. A. Dowd, “The Ryan Reynolds action-comedy Free Guy is a Truman Show for the Fortnite age”, in The A.V. Club",
"text": "Free City is, by design, a generic multiplayer sandbox—it’s supposed to look like any and every free-rein video game metropolis.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The absence of constraints; freedom to make decisions."
],
"links": [
[
"absence",
"absence"
],
[
"constraint",
"constraint"
],
[
"freedom",
"freedom"
],
[
"decision",
"decision"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) The absence of constraints; freedom to make decisions."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "vrijbrief"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"plural"
],
"word": "vapaat kädet"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "champ libre"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "carte blanche"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "a briglia sciolta"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "campo libero"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "carta bianca"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "wolna ręka"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "carta branca"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "svoboda dejstvij",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "свобода действий"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "razularenost"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "a rètini scioti"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"vulgar"
],
"word": "a minchia china"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "carta blanca"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "rienda suelta"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"word": "barra libre"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "the absence of constraints",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "fria tyglar"
}
],
"word": "free rein"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.