Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - release

 I. verb  (~d; releasing)  Etymology: Middle English relesen, from Anglo-French relesser, from Latin relaxare to relax  Date: 14th century  transitive verb  1. to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude ~ hostages ~ pent-up emotions ~ the brakes; also to let go ; dismiss ~d from her job  2. to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses was ~d from her promise  3. to give up in favor of another ; relinquish ~ a claim to property  4. to give permission for publication, performance, exhibition, or sale of; also to make available to the public the commission ~d its findings ~ a new movie  intransitive verb to move from one's normal position (as in football or basketball) in order to assume another position or to perform a second assignment  Synonyms: see free  • releasable adjective  II. noun  Etymology: Middle English reles, from Anglo-French, from relesser  Date: 14th century  1. relief or deliverance from sorrow, suffering, or trouble  2.  a. discharge from obligation or responsibility  b.  (1) relinquishment of a right or claim  (2) an act by which a legal right is discharged; specifically a conveyance of a right in lands or tenements to another having an estate in possession  3.  a. the act or an instance of liberating or freeing (as from restraint)  b. the act or manner of concluding a musical tone or phrase  c. the act or manner of ending a sound ; the movement of one or more vocal organs in quitting the position for a speech sound  d. the action or manner of throwing a ball has a quick ~  4. an instrument effecting a legal ~  5. the state of being freed  6. a device adapted to hold or ~ a mechanism as required  7.  a. the act of permitting performance or publication; also performance, publication became a best seller on its ~  b. the matter ~d; especially a statement prepared for the press