Free Rein for Detainees

Recent Examples on the Web Inside Rikers: With staffing shortages and the basic functions of the jail disrupted, detainees had free rein inside the complex. — New York Times, 31 Dec. 2021 Things Lu couldn’t account for, all the sorrow and spite, the vitriol and piety, that suddenly had free rein. — The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2021 This gives you free rein to not have to worry about bringing multiple items with you in different pockets or cluttering up your purse. — Chris Hachey, BGR, 7 Dec. 2021 This gives your team free rein inside the process while meeting the client’s needs. — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2021 The move gives the firm free rein to pursue a clearer growth strategy that includes doubling its workforce in China to 600 and ramping up in asset and wealth management. — Candice Zachariahs, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2021 The conflict between Gawain and the Green Knight, one of youthful vigor vs. ages-old nature, gives Patel free rein to emotionally explore a man having to figure himself out in the most fantastical of circumstances. — Brian Truitt, Detroit Free Press, 30 July 2021 The lobbyists are leading us to a nation starkly divided between rich and the poor while companies have free rein to trash the environment. — Jeffrey Sachs, CNN, 5 Nov. 2021 James was afraid to give his inclinations free rein — or, indeed, any rein at all. — Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2021 These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘free rein.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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What Makes Today’S Phrase So Confusing?

If two words sound the same when spoken, their spellings can be difficult to distinguish in writing. This is what makes today’s phrase so confusing. Free rein or free reign: which is it?

This is an important distinction to make when you are looking for the correct spelling and it will guide us the rest of the way when comparing free rein vs. free reign. As I mentioned above, the phrase free rein is an allusion to horses, not to kings, queens, or royalty. When you are giving a horse free rein, you are holding its reins loosely, so as to allow the animal freedom of movement. –The New Yorker Other Uses of Rein The spelling free rein makes that much more sense when you look at other uses of the word rein.

If an office manager is keeping his or her staff on a strict budget, you might say he or she is keeping everyone on a tight rein. If you give people full rein, you are giving them the freedom to do as they please. All of these examples help illustrate why rein is the correct word choice in the phrase free rein, which has to do with freedom of action, expression, or movement.

While it’s tempting to think of the phrase free rein as meaning a monarch wielding power of his subjects, this is not the historical meaning or spelling of the phrase, and the examples of reins of power, hold the reins, take over the reins, rein in, tight reins, etc., make that abundantly clear. Floyd Mayweather reigned champion once again. Remember the Difference I had a hard time coming up with a trick to remember which of these two spellings is correct: free rein vs. free reign.

Is it free reign or free rein? While it might be tempting to spell the phrase as free reign, this is a spelling error. Free rein is the correct phrase.

What Does The Word “Free Rein” Mean?

Does this expression imply that someone with the freedom to do whatever they want is a ruler or a horse with no reins? These homophones are confusing enough when they’re on their own, but when they’re in popular phrases or expressions, a whole new layer of confusion is added. They sound similar, but mean totally different things—so when using the expression “free rein,” it can be tricky to know which to use.

These common English sayings actually make no sense. What does the expression mean? If someone has “free rein,” they basically have the freedom to do whatever they want.

First of all, what’s the difference between “reign” and “rein”? It’s also the word we use when talking about a “reign of terror.” As for “rein,” it’s the word that describes the straps that restrain a horse.

Check out these other common pairs of words everyone confuses. If you have total control, it makes way more sense to say you’re reigning, right? And yet, “free rein” is the correct expression.

So basically, while “free rein” might sound like an oxymoron, “free reign” is actually redundant, and therefore not the correct expression.

What Is English Vocabulary In Use?

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What Is The Expression To Give Free Rein To?

Free Rein or Free Reign? The expression to give free rein to is figurative. (OED) The word rein derives from a word meaning “a bond, check” from a verb meaning “to hold back.

The sense of this “reign” has become conflated with the expression “to give free rein to.” The confusion has become so complete that it’s beyond correction. I shall continue to write free rein, but “free reign” is here to stay.

You do realize that not using quotes yields results that have the two words on the same page, but not necessarily next to each other, don’t you? Results 1 – 10 of about 1,230,000 for “free rein” Results 1 – 10 of about 940,000 for “free reign”. I suggest issuing a retraction.

My new search with the quotation marks yielded these results: “free rein” 681,000 “free reign” 531,000 Either way, free rein wins. Which is great in my book. However, Google searches can reflect trends in usage and usage drives acceptance.

What Event Will Be An Opportunity For Geeks To Share Their Experiences And Give Free Rein To Their Creativity?

Global Game Jam Tunisia 2018 will be an opportunity for geeks to share their experiences and give free rein to their creativity, be they designers, illustrators, developers, musicians, amateurs, students or professionals. Around thirty youngsters aged between 12 and 18 from the Little Arts Academy, who were already on a city dance programme, spent close to a week working with Abou to express their passion and give free rein to their creativity and their showmanship. ‘We should not be railroading this important measure, although it’s a retrogressive bill, because the hallmark of a deliberative assembly, like this honorable chamber, is to give free rein to extensive debates so that differing positions can be heard,’ Lagman said.

Among them, neutrality is an excuse to give free rein to a bully. The Politician’s Husband BBC Two, 9pm David Tennant is allowed to give free rein to his talent for smouldering intensity in the eventful final episode of Paula Milne’s engrossing political drama. It is to be hoped that this will not be taken as an opportunity to give free rein to developers and speculators, to build upon even more greenfield sites.

He says he had no option but to give free rein to my affairs as if they were never important. The Haltwhistle Film Project has begun a special course at Newcastle College’s Hexham campus, allowing adults with learning disabilities to give free rein to their creativity and further their animation skills within a supportive environment. PARENTS in the Midlands are being urged to give free rein to their little ones imagination by taking them along to a special Easter event.

WHILE the authorities of racing should be applauded for attempting to root out corruption, I would be interested to know which PR svengali advised the clerks of courses to give free rein to packs of television news crews to start filming at, or indeed on, the courses. THE air corridors of Ireland give free rein to the military build-up of American aircraft on the way to a possible war with Iraq.