free rein
/ˌfɹiː ˈɹeɪn/US/ˌfɹi ˈɹeɪn/
free rein noun: a rein of a horse held loosely so that the animal can move more freely; also, the free condition that this gives to a horse.
Noun
free rein (plural (dated) free reins)
- A rein of a horse held loosely so that the animal can move more freely; also, the free condition that this gives to a horse.
- I needed no whip, or spur, for I was as eager as my rider: he saw it, and giving me a free rein, and leaning a little forward, we dashed after them.[1877], Anna Sewell, “The Lady Anne, or a Runaway Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 113
- [I]n the rise during the leap, just previous to the spring, no efforts whatever must be made by the rider to support the horse, or to lift him, but instead, she should simply hold the reins so lightly that his mouth can just be felt, which is called "giving a free rein."1884, Elizabeth [Platt] Karr, “The Leap—the Standing Leap—the Flying Leap”, in The American Horsewoman, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 256
- The absence of constraints; freedom to act, decide, or speak.
- to give [a] free rein to
- [H]e vvas pleas'd to lend / Free reines to mirth, and to ſuſpend thoſe cares / That claime ſuch intereſt in th' Imperiall brovv.a. 1645 (date written), Fra[ncis] Quarles, The Virgin Widow. A Comedie, London: […] R[ichard] Royston, […], published 1649, →OCLC, Act I, page 1
- Synonyms:
- blank check, blank cheque, carte blanche, free hand, proxy in blank
free rein meaning in Malayalam and Arabic
free rein in Malayalam
- a free hand, freedom, leeway
- ഉച്ഛൃംഖലത്വം, കടിഞ്ഞാണില്ലാത്ത അവസ്ഥ, സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം, പരിപൂർണ്ണമായ പ്രവർത്തനസ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം, സമ്പർണ്ണ പ്രവർത്തനസ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം, വ്യുത്ഥാനം
free rein in Arabic
- absence of constraints
- يد مطلقة
Examples of free rein in a sentence
- 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.1908, Virgil, “Book I”, in Theodore C[hickering] Williams, transl., The Æneid of Virgil Translated into English Verse, Boston, Mass.; New...
- [Geoffrey] Chaucer gave a free rein to his poetical mirth.1790, Thomas Pennant, “[Chaucer]”, in Of London, London: […] Rob[er]t Faulder, […], →OCLC, page 47:
- 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.2018 December, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in Robert Lew, editor, International...
- 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 July 21, Phil Gates, “Country diary: this forgotten grassland is a butterfly Serengeti”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian...
Synonyms of free rein
- blank check, blank cheque
- carte blanche
- free hand
- proxy in blank
Forms of free rein
| alternative form | free reign |
|---|---|
| plural (dated) | free reins |
Origin of free rein
From free (adjective) + rein.
Words that rhyme with free rein
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- entertain
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- contain
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- ordain
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
Questions about free rein
- What does free rein mean?
- Free rein means a rein of a horse held loosely so that the animal can move more freely; also, the free condition that this gives to a horse.
- What is free rein in Malayalam?
- Free rein in Malayalam is ഉച്ഛൃംഖലത്വം, കടിഞ്ഞാണില്ലാത്ത അവസ്ഥ, സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം. See Free rein meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use free rein in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is free rein?
- Free rein is a noun.
- How do you pronounce free rein?
- Free rein is pronounced /ˌfɹiː ˈɹeɪn/ (UK).
Words near free rein in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: free rein (page history and authors); free rein (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “free rein.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/free_rein. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.