Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🕊️ To set free 🕊️ Setting free 📢 To make public 📢 A new product 💨 To let out 💨 Letting out 😌 Emotional outlet 📄 A legal document 🔘 A control device 🏢 Job ending 📝 To give up 🎶 Musical ending
to release

to release

168 2.7
To allow a liquid, gas, or energy to flow out
  • verb
  • /rɪˈliːs/
: emitir
  • The technician will release the steam from the valve slowly to avoid an explosion.
  • release carbon dioxide
  • release carbon
  • release gas

Let us feel each of these muscles release tension and just sink.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The drug is held in microspheres and slowly released to prolong its activity.

    Academic text (2012)

  • They start to eat protein and they start to release ammonia.

  • So they might still just release them into the United States.

  • Something comes, you release it, more of it comes.

    Mulligan Brothers Interviews

  • Then gently allow yourself to release it and let it go.

  • Upon contact with the receiver, the bacteria release the DNA message to the destination.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Fire is a natural disturbance process in many forest systems that releases carbon back to the atmosphere.

    Academic text (2011)

  • A report on the findings of those analyses was released recently by the partnership.

    Academic text (1999)

  • You bite into a pastry, the sugar melts in your mouth, releasing dopamine.

    Emmanuelle (2024)

  • Once it has melted, permafrost may release large amounts of mercury hidden in frozen soils and plants.

    Academic text (2012)

Synonyms

to let out
vsto release
638 1.1

Allow someone or something to leave a place

is the general term and is used more for substances than people or states
to unleash
vsto release
206 4.3

To suddenly let a strong feeling, power, or animal go free

is the broader term and does not necessarily involve sudden powerful outbursts
to drain
vsto release
203 1.0

To let liquid flow away from something

is broader and does not focus on intentional channeling of liquid
to let loose
vsto release
47 3.8

Set something free from being held or controlled

is the general term and does not stress sudden or emotional action
to expel
vsto release
26 5.0

Push out a substance, for example gas from a body or container

is broader and does not focus on forceful pushing out
to eject
vsto release
24 4.1

Push a liquid or other substance out of something

is the general term and may not imply sudden or pressured outflow
to secrete
vsto release
  • Specialized
22 6.9

Make and release a chemical like a hormone into the body

is the general term and does not imply biological production by cells
to discharge
vsto release
12 4.4

Take people or things out of a vehicle by unloading

is the broader, general term that permits substances or energy to escape
to exude
vsto release
3 6.5

Give off liquid slowly, often in drops

is the general word and does not require slow and steady emission
to evacuate
vsto release
  • Specialized
2 6.9

To remove air or gas from a container to make a vacuum

is the general term and does not specify creating a vacuum
to liberate
vsto release
  • Specialized
2 5.8

Release a gas or energy during a chemical reaction

is the broader term and does not focus on chemical process origin
to exhaust
vsto release
  • Specialized
1 4.8

To remove gas or steam from a machine

is the broader word, not limited to system outputs or waste streams
to outgas
vsto release
  • Specialized
1 7.9

To release gas from a material when it is heated or in a vacuum

is more general and does not stress gas coming from materials under heat
to free
vsto release
  • Specialized
1 7.5

To release gas or energy during a chemical reaction

is the general term and is not tied to reactions or decomposition
to effuse
vsto release
1 9.1

To come out freely, as a liquid, gas, or light

is the more general term and does not imply great abundance
to desorb
vsto release
  • Specialized
1 9.3

To come off a surface after something sticks to it, for example a gas or tiny particle

is the broader word and does not only mean detaching from a surface
to deaerate
vsto release
  • Specialized
9.9

Remove air or gas from a liquid

is the broader concept and does not only mean removing dissolved gases

Antonyms

to trap
550 2.6

To catch and hold someone or something so they cannot leave

to contain
220 3.5

To keep something dangerous from spreading or getting worse

Idioms

by press release
  • Literature
2 3.6

Through an official announcement a company sends to the news media

to release the kraken
  • Slang
1 9.9

To let loose something powerful and hard to control

Phrasal Verbs

to release the handbrake
  • UK
1 2.6

Allow a parked car to move by letting the handbrake go

Compounds

press release
  • Literature
125 2.5

An official message sent to the news media to give information

re-release
  • UK
7 3.6

A new version of a film or album that people put out before

time-release
  • Specialized
5 5.4

Releases medicine slowly into the body over several hours

policy by press release
  • Literature
7.5

Announcing official decisions to the public by press release before any internal discussion

How Much

to gush
27 3.2
to release
168 2.7
to discharge
12 4.4
to leak
191 1.0
to seep
74 2.7

Surface Forms

release infinitive
released past
released past participle
releasing present participle
releases third person singular

Morphology

release = lease (opaque) = re + lease

This physical sense ('let a substance escape') is an extension of 'let go', but the segmentation 're-' + 'lease' is not a transparent cue because 'lease' is commonly known as 'rent'.

Etymology

Release comes from the parts re- 'back' and the French verb laisser 'to let'. This gives the simple idea of 'letting out', so to release a gas or hormone is to let it go into the air or body.