[re.lease] vt re.leased ; re.leas.ing [ME relesen, fr. MF relessier, fr. L relaxare to relax] (14c) 1: to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude "~ hostages" "~ pent-up emotions" "~ the brakes"; also: to let go: dismiss "released from her job"
2: to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses "was released from her promise"
3: to give up in favor of another: relinquish "~ a claim to property"
4: to give permission for publication, performance, exhibition, or sale of; also: to make available to the public "the commission released its findings" "~ a new movie" syn see free -- re.leas.able adj
[2]release n (14c) 1: relief or deliverance from sorrow, suffering, or trouble
2. a: discharge from obligation or responsibility b (1): relinquishment of a right or claim (2): an act by which a legal right is discharged; specif: a conveyance of a right in lands or tenements to another having an estate in possession 3 a: the act or an instance of liberating or freeing (as from restraint) b: the act or manner of concluding a musical tone or phrase c: the act or manner of ending a sound: the movement of one or more vocal organs in quitting the position for a speech sound
4: an instrument effecting a legal release
5: the state of being freed
6: a device adapted to hold or release a mechanism as required
7. a: the act of permitting performance or publication; also: performance, publication "became a best-seller on its ~" b: the matter released; esp: a statement prepared for the press