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free hand

free hand {n.}

Great freedom.

The teacher had a free hand in her classroom.

Bob put paint on the fence with a free hand.

Compare: FREE REIN.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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free rein

[free rein] {n.} Freedom to do what you want. * /The king had free rein in his country./ * /Father is strict with the children, but Mother gives them free […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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[hand] See: [AT HAND], [BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH], [BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS ONE], [CLEAN HANDS], [DIRTY ONE'S HANDS], [EAT OUT OF ONE'S HAND], […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

make free with

[make free with] {v.} 1. To take or use (things) without asking. * /Bob makes free with his roommate's clothes./ * /A student should not make free with his teacher's […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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[free-for-all] {n.} 1. Unlimited, free access to something everybody wants. * /The Smith's party was a lavish free-for-all; everybody could eat and drink as much as they wanted./ 2. A […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

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