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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Release: Definition, Usage & Common Mistakes (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：put out / launch (release)

release 🔊

/rɪˈliːs/

vt.

to make something available for people to see, hear, or use

Illustration of release meaning: person downloading a new app on a smartphone.

put out / launch 🔊

➕

/pʊt aʊt/ /lɔːntʃ/

vt.

To formally make a product, piece of media, or information available for public use, consumption, or knowledge.

📁 Category：Entertainment & Sports 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 're-' (back/again) + 'laxare' (to loosen). Literally 'to loosen back'.

💡 Mnemonic

RE-LEASE it like untying a leash to set something free.

📖 Example

The singer will release her new album next month, and her fans are already excited. 🔊 The singer will put out her new album next month, and her fans are already excited.

🔗 Collocations

release a statement – to issue an official comment or announcement

release date – the scheduled day for a product or media to become available

press release – an official statement issued to journalists for publication

🔄 Synonyms

launch (vt.) – to introduce a new product or service to the market

issue (vt.) – to officially put something out or circulate it, especially information

publish (vt.) – to prepare and issue material for public sale or view

🚫 Antonyms

withhold (vt.) – to refuse to give or allow something

suppress (vt.) – to prevent something from being published or known

🌱 Derivatives

releaser (n.) – a person or thing that releases something

pre-release (adj./n.) – a version or event before the official public release

📖 Cultural Story

Comes from Latin 'releases', past participle of 'relaxare' (to loosen). Widely used in legal and journalistic contexts, e.g., 'press release' to denote the act of making information officially available to the public.

Meaning 2：set free (release)

release 🔊

/rɪˈliːs/

vt.

to let something or someone go free from a place where they were held

Visual definition of release: child setting a butterfly free in a sunny garden.

set free 🔊

➕

/set friː/

vt.

To allow or cause a person, animal, or thing to leave a place of confinement or restriction and become free.

📁 Category：Animal Protection 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

After nursing the injured butterfly back to health, the children carefully released it back into the garden. 🔊 After nursing the injured butterfly back to health, the children carefully set it free back into the garden.

🔗 Collocations

release from prison – to allow a prisoner to leave jail

release a catch – to disengage a mechanism that is holding something

release one's grip – to stop holding on to something

🔄 Synonyms

free (vt.) – to allow someone to leave a place where they have been kept

liberate (vt.) – to set someone free from a situation of oppression or confinement

let go (v. phrase) – to stop holding something; to allow someone to leave

🚫 Antonyms

capture (vt.) – to take someone as a prisoner, or to take something into your possession

detain (vt.) – to keep someone in an official place, such as a police station, a prison, or a hospital, and prevent them from leaving

🌱 Derivatives

releasable (adj.) – capable of being released