let go

English

Verb

let go (third-person singular simple present lets go, present participle letting go, simple past and past participle let go)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see let,‎ go.

   Please, Mom, can you let me go to her party?

2. (intransitive, with of and transitive, with object before go) To release from one's grasp; to go from a state of holding on to a state of no longer holding on.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.

   You're hurting him! Let him go!

   Let go of the phone.

3. To emotionally disengage or to distract oneself from a situation.
   • 2010, Gary Haymes, Go Beyond Stress:

     You are supported, so you can just let go and relax. Inhale and slowly exhale.

4. (euphemistic) To dismiss from employment.

   The secretary didn't work out, so her boss told her she was being let go.

   • 2017 October 14, Paul Doyle, “Mauricio Pellegrino yet to find attacking solution for stuttering Southampton”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     Puel was let go in June despite leading Southampton to their first major final for 14 years and an eighth-place finish in the Premier League. But apparently his style was too boring and some players and many fans disliked his method, so he had to go – fair enough but look at them now.

5. (euphemistic, transitive) To fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance.
   1. (euphemistic, usually reflexively) To gain weight

      Wow, dude! You've really let yourself go this time!

Synonyms

• (release from one's grasp): release, unhand

Translations

other than idiom

• Finnish: antaa mennä, päästää (fi)
• Italian: lasciar andare
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: dejar ir

to no longer hold on

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放开 (zh) (fàngkāi), 放開／放开 (zh) (fàngkāi)

• Danish: slippe (da), give slip på
• Dutch: loslaten (nl)
• Finnish: päästää (fi), päästää irti, päästää käsistään, hellittää otteensa, antaa mennä
• French: lâcher (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: loslassen (de)
• Greek: αφήνω (el) (afíno)
• Irish: scaoil (de)
• Italian: lasciar andare, liberare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 放す (ja) (hanasu)
• Latin: mitto (la)
• Polish: puszczać (pl), puścić (pl)
• Portuguese: soltar (pt)
• Russian: отпуска́ть (ru) impf (otpuskátʹ), отпусти́ть (ru) pf (otpustítʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: pušćaś impf

• Spanish: soltar (es)
• Swedish: släppa (sv)
• Ukrainian: відпуска́ти impf (vidpuskáty), відпусти́ти pf (vidpustýty)

to emotionally disengage or to distract oneself from a situation

• Finnish: antaa olla, antaa mennä
• Italian: lasciarsi andare, prendere fiato
• Portuguese: ir (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: släppa (sv)
• Turkish: aldırmak
• Ukrainian: відпуска́ти impf (vidpuskáty), відпусти́ти pf (vidpustýty)

dismiss from employment

• Danish: lade gå
• Finnish: irtisanoa (fi)
• German: sich trennen von
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: demitto, dimitto
• Portuguese: demitir (pt)
• Swedish: säga upp (sv), ge silkessnöret (sv), entlediga (sv), avpollettera (sv)

euphemistic: to fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance

• Finnish: antaa mennä
• German: nachlassen (de), sich gehen lassen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: lasciarsi andare

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} amittere
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} slippe (no)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} soltar (es)

Synonyms

• (no longer hold on): leggo (imperative)