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Antonyms for release


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : ri-lees
Phonetic Transcription : rɪˈlis



Definition of release

Origin :
  • c.1300, "to withdraw, revoke (a decree, etc.), cancel, lift; remit," from Old French relaissier, relesser "to relinquish, quit, let go, leave behind, abandon, acquit," variant of relacher "release, relax," from Latin relaxare "loosen, stretch out" (see relax). Cf. Spanish relajar, Italian relassare.
  • Meaning "alleviate, ease" is mid-14c., as is sense of "free from (duty, etc.); exonerate." From late 14c. as "grant remission, forgive; set free from imprisonment, military service, etc." Also "give up, relinquish, surrender." In law, c.1400, "to grant a release of property." Of press reports, attested from 1904; of motion pictures, from 1912; of music recordings, from 1962. As a euphemism for "to dismiss, fire from a job" it is attested in American English since 1904. Related: Released; releasing.
  • noun delivery; dispensation
  • noun publication
  • verb let go, let out
Example sentences :
  • Until that ecstasy of release should come, he would do his duty,—yes, his duty.
  • Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
  • Release can come only when the race at large is willing to cast the evil thing off.
  • Extract from : « The Conquest of Fear » by Basil King
  • Now I am advised by others to try on my release to forget that I have ever been in a prison at all.
  • Extract from : « De Profundis » by Oscar Wilde
  • It was as if some mighty pent force were struggling for release.
  • Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
  • There was no joy over her release in his tones, nor pity for her condition.
  • Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
  • He was made a delegate of the Red Committee less than a year after his release on licence.
  • Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
  • Did he not release Joseph from the pit, and raise him to princely glory?
  • Extract from : « Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I » by Francis Augustus Cox
  • At least, release my gentle sister, and pour out all your malice on me.
  • Extract from : « The Last of the Mohicans » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • We were at Luxor; and somewhere not far off, Mabella Hnem was praying for release.
  • Extract from : « It Happened in Egypt » by C. N. Williamson
  • The audience sank back with a gasp of release from the strain of attention.
  • Extract from : « The Gentleman From Indiana » by Booth Tarkington

Synonyms for release

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019