let loose
Americanidiom
past and past participle
let loose,present participle
letting loose-
to set free; release;
They let the captured mouse loose in a field.
-
to allow to act freely (often followed byon ).
I have my medical students practice putting IVs in me before I let them loose on patients.
-
to act in a relaxed or uninhibited way.
It took some time to talk my dad into letting loose and playing a few games with the grandkids.
I can be serious when I need to be, but sometimes I just need to let loose and have fun.
-
to utter or issue forcefully and suddenly (sometimes followed bywith ).
I let loose a shriek and made a dive for the door.
He let loose with a flurry of angry posts on the website.
-
to give way; yield.
The guardrail let loose and we very nearly plunged over the edge.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Joining the party were white-collar workers looking to let loose on summer weekends, including Michael Guggenheim, a now 33-year-old corporate lawyer.
And then I get to wear this gold one on the beach where she gets to let loose and ride off into the sunset when she’s an actress that probably doesn’t get that escapism.
From Los Angeles Times
"We saw this happen in 2019 when the invasive species regulation came in and there was a spike in animals such as raccoons and tanukis coming into us or even being let loose."
From BBC
About halfway in the middle of the third turn I let loose.
From Literature
These are “sociable, bro-ey men in their twenties and thirties,” Mr. Funt explains, “the kind of guys who have matured since their fraternity days but can still let loose on a bachelor party.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
