> as lemmas

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxvii. 243 He ðe wolde fram deoflum gebundenne to him alædan, alys ðu hine nu fram deoflum gehæftne, and læt hine gan frigne [L. liberum ire permitte].

OE Ælfric Homily (Hatton 114) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 744 Witodlice ic dyde þæt þa gewurdon cristene ealle þe in ðam cwarterne beclysode wæron, and ic hi ealle gescrydde mid eallhwitum reafe, and ic let hi frige faran gif hi woldon.

?c1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 11 (MED) Of prisun thar ich in am, bring me vt and makye fre.

a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 49 (MED) We sculden to heuene sten..make us freo, for to bein þer, of þe fendes nette.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 434 Thow art at thy large of prisoun free.

1544 A. Cope Hist. Anniball & Scipio xxvii. f. 40 They commanded to let the old senatours go free, and vse their romthes.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xx. 24 b He wold..set them at free deliverance.

1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xix. 124 That the gods would set me free from this vnhalowed place.

a1671 T. Fairfax Short Mem. (1699) 122 Which [surrender] after 4 months close siege they were compelled to, and that upon mercy;..delivering upon mercy, is to be understood that some are to suffer, the rest to go free.

1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 73 Set an unhappy pris'ner free, Who ne'er intended harm to thee.

1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 266 We would let them go free.

a1770 T. Chatterton Compl. Wks. (1971) I. 221 Whanne you, as caytysned, yn fielde dyd bee, Hee oathed you to the stylle, and strayte dydd sette you free.

1824 W. Lee La Fayette ii. iii. 38 You are free!—fly!—Lose no time, the alarm is given, the peasants are assembling—save yourself.

1845 C. Griffith Present State Port Philip 76 Men, who, having been formerly convicts..have become free by the expiration of their sentences.

1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 2 Calvin,..set free all those souls.

1925 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 21 Dec. 1/7 She walked free today after her fourth arrest in as many months.

1966 N. Gordimer Late Bourgeois World (1982) 35 Imagine, whether you get ten years or go free can depend on whether or not your counsel can out-talk the other man's.

1995 N. Blincoe Acid Casuals xxviii. 218 If Junk had opened the first door, she could kick open the firedoor and she was free.

2004 New Yorker 17 May 81/2 Now he would max out his prison term and be set free with no constraints.