free rein
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English[edit]
Noun[edit]
- Loose rein(s), as of a horse.
- 1884, Elizabeth Platt Karr, The American Horsewoman, page 256:
- she should simply hold the reins so lightly that his mouth can just be felt, which is called "giving a free rein."
- 1910, Virgil (translated into English by Theodore C. Williams), page 8,
- So ceased the sea's uproar, when its grave Sire
Looked o'er th' expanse, and, riding on in light,
Flung free rein to his winged obedient car.
- So ceased the sea's uproar, when its grave Sire
- (figurative) The absence of constraints; freedom to make decisions.
- 1790, Thomas Pennant, Of London, page 47:
- Chaucer gave a free rein to his poetical mirth
- 1861 August 6, “SLAVERY AND THE WAR.,SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS, ESQ., AT THE CELEBRATION OF WEST INDIES EMANCIPATION”, in New York Times:
- Help the Government to dare to give free rein to the ardor of the people.
- 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:
- securing for himself an undivided authority and a free rein for his profligacy.
- 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, , page 487:
- 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.
- 2021 July 21, Phil Gates, “Country diary: this forgotten grassland is a butterfly Serengeti”, in The Guardian[1]:
- 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.
- 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[2]:
- Free City is, by design, a generic multiplayer sandbox—it’s supposed to look like any and every free-rein video game metropolis.
Derived terms[edit]
- free reign (common, sometimes proscribed)
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
the absence of constraints
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References[edit]
- Are We Giving Free Rei(g)n to New Spelling, October 18th, 2007, Ben Zimmer, OUPblog
- Free Rein or Free Reign?
- National Dictionary Day: Do you spell “free reign” with a G?, 10/16/2007, ABC News