phrasal verb · neutral
set loose
/sɛt luːs/set·LOOSE
task2speaking
to release something or cause something to begin and spread suddenly
Examples
“The virus was accidentally set loose in the population.”
“The scandal set loose a torrent of criticism from the press.”
“They set the animals loose into the wild.”
Band 8 sentence
“The documentary set loose a heated debate about the ethics of genetic modification.”
Collocations
- set loose a reaction/torrent/wave
- set animals loose
Word family
set loose (v) verb phraseset something loose (v) verb phrase
Common mistakes
set looseed→set loose
let loose→set loose
Say it for a higher band
5release→6unleash→7+set loose
Synonyms
release
unleash
Easily confused
unleash
“The new policy unleashed a wave of innovation.”
Related words
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