phrasal verb · neutral

set free

/ˌsɛt ˈfriː/set·FREE

speakingtask2

to release someone or something from imprisonment or restriction

Examples

After the inquiry he was set free.

Campaigners want to see political prisoners set free.

The zoo released the injured bird and set it free.

Band 8 sentence

After sustained public pressure, the wrongly convicted activist was finally set free, which restored some faith in the justice system.

Collocations

  • set someone free
  • be set free
  • set free from

Word family

set (v) verbfree (adj / v) adjective/verbfreedom (n) noun

Common mistakes

set someone to freeset someone free

set free someoneset someone free

Say it for a higher band

5let6release7+set free

Synonyms

release

liberate

Easily confused

release

The police released the suspect pending further enquiries.

liberate

The army liberated the town after a long battle.

Related words

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