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1. Stop holding on to; allow to move
   "release the door handle, please!";
   - let go of, let go, relinquish
    
2. Grant freedom to; free from confinement
   - free, liberate, unloose, unloosen, loose
    
3. Let (something) fall or spill from a container
   "release the flour onto a plate";
   - turn
    
4. Prepare and issue for public distribution or sale
   "release a magazine or newspaper";
   - publish, bring out, put out, issue
    
5. Eliminate (a substance)
   "the plant releases a gas";
   - exhaust, discharge, expel, eject
    
6. Generate and separate from cells or bodily fluids
   "release a hormone into the blood stream";
   - secrete
    
7. Make (information) available for publication
   "release the list with the names of the prisoners";
   - free
    
8. Part with a possession or right
   "I am releasing my bedroom to the long-term house guest";
   - relinquish, resign, free, give up
    
9. (chemistry) release (gas or energy) as a result of a chemical reaction or physical decomposition
   - free, liberate
    
10. Make (assets) available
    "release the holdings in the dictator's bank account";
    - unblock, unfreeze, free

1. Merchandise issued for sale or public showing (especially a record or film)
   "a new release from the London Symphony Orchestra"
    
2. The act of liberating someone or something
   - liberation, freeing
    
3. A process that liberates or discharges something
   "there was a sudden release of oxygen"; "the release of iodine from the thyroid gland"
    
4. An announcement distributed to members of the press in order to supplement or replace an oral presentation
   - handout, press release
    
5. The termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
   - dismissal, dismission, discharge, firing, liberation, sack, sacking, heave-ho [informal], chuck [Brit, informal], the axe [informal], severance, the boot [informal], the chop [Brit, informal]
    
6. A euphemistic expression for death
   "thousands mourned his release";
   - passing, loss, departure, exit, expiration, going
    
7. (law) a legal document evidencing the discharge of a debt or obligation
   - acquittance
    
8. A device that when pressed will release part of a mechanism
   - button
    
9. Activity that frees or expresses creative energy or emotion
   "she had no other release for her feelings";
   - outlet, vent
    
10. The act of allowing a fluid to escape
    - spill, spillage
     
11. A formal written statement of relinquishment
    - waiver, discharge
     
12. (music) the act or manner of terminating a musical phrase or tone
    - tone ending

Derived forms: released, releases, releasing

Type of: accomplishment, achievement, action, activity, air, announcement, bare, bring forth, channel, channelise [Brit], channelize, conclusion, death, decease, device, ending, expiry, exudate, exude, flow, generate, give, hand, instrument, issue, legal document, legal instrument, merchandise, natural action, natural process, official document, ooze, ooze out, pass, pass on, product, promulgation, publicise [Brit], publicize, reach, relinquishing, relinquishment, stream, supply, termination, transfer, transmit, transport, transude, turn over, ware

Antonym: immobilise [Brit], take hold

Encyclopedia: Release, Release