LET GO

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does let go mean? 

• LET GO (verb)
  The verb LET GO has 2 senses:

1. release, as from one's grip

2. be relaxed

  Familiarity information: LET GO used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LET GO (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Release, as from one's grip

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

let go; let go of; release; relinquish

Context example:

relinquish your grip on the rope--you won't fall

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "let go"):

discharge; muster out (release from military service)

unclasp (release from a clasp)

pop (release suddenly)

toggle (release by a toggle switch)

unhand (remove the hand from)

bring out; let out (bring out of a specific state)

unleash (release or vent)

let loose; loose; unleash (turn loose or free from restraint)

unleash (release from a leash)

disengage; withdraw (release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be relaxed

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

Don't be so worried all the time--just let go!

Hypernyms (to "let go" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Twice I saw the hunter let go the steering-oar with one hand, reach for his rifle, and hesitate.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Press forward in the first two weeks of February, and then you can let go, relax, and socialize with the many new people being drawn to you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

His jaws let go their grip, and he leaped backward to escape this strange danger, his lips drawn back from his fangs, his throat snarling, every hair bristling with rage and fright.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

When his feet touched the sea, he let go.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Then, before he could pull it out again—or let go—the raft was swept away, and the poor Scarecrow was left clinging to the pole in the middle of the river.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Let go o’ one arm at a time!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He seizes her, and she, snatching up the nearest object, which happens to be this knife, strikes at him in order to make him let go his hold.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

When he came to a straight piece of trail, where the sled could get along for a moment without guidance, he let go the gee-pole and batted his right hand sharply upon the hard wood.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I therefore let go the cord, and leaving the hooks fixed to the ships, I resolutely cut with my knife the cables that fastened the anchors, receiving about two hundred shots in my face and hands; then I took up the knotted end of the cables, to which my hooks were tied, and with great ease drew fifty of the enemy’s largest men of war after me.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)