liberty taker
- noun
:
opresor
- She accused her critics of being liberty takers for their attempts to censor free speech.
Examples
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The protesters rallied against any liberty taker who threatened their civil liberties.
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Many citizens viewed the new leader as a liberty taker who cared little for personal rights.
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The new law made him a liberty taker.
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Many citizens believe that the government is a liberty taker.
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Many citizens viewed the new leader as a liberty taker who cared little for personal rights.
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She accused her critics of being liberty takers for their attempts to censor free speech.
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The protesters rallied against any liberty taker who threatened their civil liberties.
Synonyms
16
8.4
A ruler in ancient Greece who took power by force and ruled cruelly
1
8.1
A person or thing that controls people and limits their freedom
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
liberty + taker
The phrase is compositionally analyzable: 'liberty' (freedom) + 'taker' (one who takes) plausibly yields 'someone who takes/affects others' freedom'. However, the expression is not a conventional idiom and is ambiguous (could be read as 'one who takes liberties' = acts presumptuously, or as 'one who takes away liberty' = an oppressor), so the meaning is only partially predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Liberty taker creates a simple picture: the word taker means someone who reaches out and takes liberty (freedom), like grabbing a flag or putting chains on a person. That's why it now means 'a person who takes away other people's freedoms or makes unfair rules'.