liberate

To free someone from unfair control, prison, or limits on how they can live or think.

• The army liberated the town.
• They fought to liberate people from slavery.
• She felt liberated from the need to please everyone.

How to use it: liberate someone/something from something (The campaign helped liberate workers from unfair restrictions.)

Similar words: free, release, set free

Opposites: enslave, oppress

Common phrases: liberate someone from, liberate a country, liberate yourself

To release a substance or energy through a chemical reaction or the breaking down of material.

• The reaction liberates heat.
• Heating the compound liberated oxygen.
• This process can liberate gas from the liquid.

How to use it: liberate something from something (The reaction liberates hydrogen from the compound.)

Similar words: release, give off

Common phrases: liberate oxygen, liberate heat, liberate a gas

To take someone else’s property without permission, often said as a joke.

• He liberated a biscuit from my plate.
• Someone had liberated the wine from the cupboard.
• The soldiers liberated supplies from an abandoned warehouse.

How to use it: liberate something from something (She liberated a pen from the office supply cupboard.)

Similar words: steal, take, loot

Common phrases: liberate something from, liberate some beer