1freedom 自由 [uncountableU]FREE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT the freedom and the right to do whatever you want without asking permission or being afraid of authority 自由;自由权
the fight for liberty and equality
争取自由和平等的斗争
individual/personal liberty
threats to individual liberty
对个人自由的威胁
religious/political/economic liberty
struggles for political liberty
争取政治自由的斗争
2legal right 合法权利 [countableC usually plural]RIGHT/HAVE THE RIGHT TO a particular legal right 自由;〔某种〕合法权利
3without permission 未经许可 [singular]OFFEND something you do without asking permission, especially which may offend or upset someone else 自作主张的行为,冒犯的举动,放肆的行为
take the liberty of doing something
I took the liberty of cancelling your reservation.
我自作主张取消了你的预订。
4be at liberty to do somethingformalRIGHT/HAVE THE RIGHT TO to have the right or permission to do something 有权做某事;获准做某事
a)CHANGE/MAKE something DIFFERENTto make unreasonable changes in something such as a piece of writing 随意改动某物,任意窜改某物
The film-makers took too many liberties with the original novel.
电影制作人对原著改动太多。
b)old-fashionedUSE A PERSON to treat someone without respect by being too friendly too quickly, especially in a sexual way 与某人相处时太放肆,对待某人过于狎昵〔尤指言行带有性意味〕
He’s been taking liberties with our female staff.
他对我们的女职员态度太随便了。
6.at libertyformalFREE/NOT IN PRISON if a prisoner or an animal is at liberty, they are no longer in prison or enclosed in a small place 〔犯人或动物〕不受拘禁的,自由的SYN free
Examples from the Corpus
at liberty• Tonight only one of the escaped prisoners remainsat liberty; the other seven are now back in Central Prison.• Walker was at liberty for many years before the police apprehended him.
nCOLLOCATIONS
adjectives
individual/personal liberty
Any law that increases police power may be seen as a threat to individual liberty.
religious liberty
The American Constitution protects religious liberty.
political liberty
The party has a tradition of fighting for increased political liberty.
economic liberty
The country is slowly moving towards democracy and economic liberty.
verbs
protect somebody's liberty
The right to vote is one of the most powerful means we have to protect our liberty.
deprive somebody of their liberty (=take liberty away from someone)
a prisoner who has been deprived of his liberty
infringe on/restrict somebody's liberty (=limit someone's liberty)
Will the new security measures infringe on our liberty?
threaten somebody's liberty
The government should not be so strong that it threatens individual liberty.
take the liberty of doing something• I took the liberty of helping myself to a piece of cake.• I took the liberty of inviting my friend Carlo along.• I took the liberty of planting a listeningdevice in the jukebox you ... earned.• I took the liberty of telling my office I could be reached here.• Might I take the liberty of remindingSir that Sir's favourite programme's on the air soon?• Next I took the liberty of calling on his daughter, Mrs. Carolan.
ADJECTIVE | VERB + LIBERTY | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤great偉大的自由▸➤complete完全的自由▸➤basic, fundamental基本/根本自由◇a citizens' charter which gives people basic civil liberties賦予公民基本自由的公民憲章➤civil公民自由▸➤human, individual, personal人類/個體/個人自由➤economic, political, religious經濟/政治/宗教自由➤constitutional (especially NAmE) 憲法賦予的自由VERB + LIBERTY➤enjoy, have享有自由▸➤demand, fight for要求/爭取自由▸➤secure, win獲得/贏得自由◇The city won its liberty in the 16th century.這座城市於 16 世紀獲得自由。➤lose失去自由◇If found guilty, she is in danger of losing her liberty.如果被判有罪,她將有可能失去自由。➤defend, guarantee, preserve, protect, safeguard捍衞自由;保障自由;維護自由;保衞自由◇The law should protect the liberty of the individual.法律應該保障個人自由。➤threaten威脅自由◇The new legislation threatens individual liberty.新立法威脅到個人自由。➤curtail, erode, restrict, violate限制自由;損害自由◇Our personal liberty is being eroded.我們的人身自由正在受到侵害。➤deny, deprive sb of, destroy, take剝奪(某人的)自由;破壞自由▸➤allow sb, give sb給予某人自由◇The system allows us complete liberty to do the task as we like.這一體制讓我們完全自由地按自己的方法完成任務。➤sacrifice犧牲自由PREPOSITION➤at liberty自由◇I'm not at liberty to reveal the names of the victims.我沒有透露受害人姓名的自由。◇The escaped prisoner has been at liberty for five days. (formal) 囚犯已逃脫在外 5 天。➤liberty for⋯享有的自由◇Women are demanding greater liberty for themselves.婦女正在為自己爭取更大的自由。➤liberty from從⋯中解放出來◇liberty from the abuse of police power免遭濫用警察權力之苦PHRASES➤an infringement of liberty對自由的侵犯▸➤loss of liberty自由的喪失▸➤a threat to liberty對自由的威脅