to go free
71
3.4
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ fri/
:
quedar en libertad
- If the investigation shows he was innocent, he will go free without any charges.
- let someone go free
If their friend turns on them then the friend goes free and they get five years.
- If their friend turns on them then the friend goes free and they get five years.
- So the puppet master goes free to maim and kill again.
- And the best way to do this is to simply lift the cap and to and basically just let them go free.
- It was because of that, that was the fork in the road for me that my friends ended up going to jail and I ended up going free that day.
- And if he says if he takes back his testimony and the whole case against him collapses, he can go free.
- Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah to undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free.
- I've had guys in here from the Innocent Project, these guys going free.
Examples
-
You've just let my client go free.
-
Hand over my son now, and you and your men may go free.
-
If he does not provide her with these things, she is to go free without any payment of money.
-
You said I can go free.
-
Mary Rose asked me if I thought Daniel Long would go free.
Fiction book (1993) -
The verdict comes in by noon, and I go free.
Fiction book (1997) -
If these kidnappers go free, then no child in this country will be safe.
-
You mean, if I confess, I can go free?
-
You get Viktor, I go free.
-
It was because of that, that was the fork in the road for me that my friends ended up going to jail and I ended up going free that day.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
To let someone or something go free from being held
344
1.1
Allow someone or something to leave a place
337
1.0
To release someone or something that is held
218
2.7
To let a person or animal go after keeping them in a place where they could not leave
104
4.3
Set someone free from prison or unfair control
18
4.5
To leave a court or prison without being punished
13
3.8
Set something free from being held or controlled
Antonyms
How Free
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to be released or allowed to leave' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (come to be in a particular state) with 'free' (without restraint), i.e. 'become free' or 'go into a free state'. This change-of-state construction is a common, compositional pattern in English (and reflected in many other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase go free comes from a simple image: someone opens a cage so a bird can go and be free, flying away. So it means 'to be released' or 'allowed to leave'.