WordWeb Online

1. (art) emotionally purging (of e.g. art)
   - cathartic

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

See also: emotional

Type of: air, bare, bring forth, channel, channelise [Brit], channelize, exudate, exude, generate, give, hand, issue, ooze, ooze out, pass, pass on, publicise [Brit], publicize, reach, supply, transfer, transmit, transport, transude, turn over

Antonym: immobilise [Brit], take hold

Encyclopedia: Release, Release