let go

let go

English

Verb

let go (third-person singular simple present lets go, present participle letting go, simple past and past participle let go)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see let,‎ go.

   Please, Mom, can you let me go to her party?

   We shan’t let our old car go to anyone for less than $15k.

2. (intransitive, with of and transitive, with object before go) To release from one's grasp; to go from a state of holding on to a state of no longer holding on.

   Synonyms: release, unhand, (imperative) leggo

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.

   You're hurting him! Let him go!

   Let go of the phone.

3. To emotionally disengage or to distract oneself from a situation.
   • 2010, Gary Haymes, Go Beyond Stress:

     You are supported, so you can just let go and relax. Inhale and slowly exhale.

4. (euphemistic) To dismiss from employment.

   Synonyms: decruit, dehire, unhire; see also Thesaurus:lay off

   The secretary didn't work out, so her boss told her she was being let go.

   • 2017 October 14, Paul Doyle, “Mauricio Pellegrino yet to find attacking solution for stuttering Southampton”, in the Guardian‎:

     Puel was let go in June despite leading Southampton to their first major final for 14 years and an eighth-place finish in the Premier League. But apparently his style was too boring and some players and many fans disliked his method, so he had to go – fair enough but look at them now.

5. (transitive) To ignore (a comment, etc.).
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1962, OCLC 751607287, page 135:

     Cora gave her shoulders a rebellious toss. "I'm sick of always getting oysters; I'd sooner come out with you." Bradly let that go. "You had enough money this week without getting oysters, didn't you?"

6. (euphemistic, transitive) To fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance.
   1. (euphemistic, usually reflexively) To gain weight

      Wow, dude! You've really let yourself go this time!

Translations

other than idiom

Finnish: antaa mennä, päästää (fi) Italian: lasciar andare Spanish: dejar ir

to no longer hold on

Cherokee: ᏚᏲᏍᎦ (duyosga) Chinese: Mandarin: 放开 (zh) (fàngkāi), 放開 (zh) Danish: slippe (da), give slip på Dutch: loslaten (nl) Finnish: päästää (fi), päästää irti, päästää käsistään, hellittää otteensa, antaa mennä French: lâcher (fr) Galician: soltar (gl), deixar (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: loslassen (de) Greek: αφήνω (el) (afíno) Guaraní: poi Hungarian: elenged (hu), elereszt (hu) Irish: scaoil (de) Italian: lasciare perdere, lasciare stare Japanese: 放す (ja) (hanasu) Latin: mitto (la) Polish: puszczać (pl), puścić (pl) Portuguese: soltar (pt) Romanian: da drumul Russian: отпуска́ть (ru) impf (otpuskátʹ), отпусти́ть (ru) pf (otpustítʹ) Sanskrit: मुञ्चति (sa) (muñcati) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: pušćaś impf Spanish: soltar (es) Swedish: släppa (sv) Tocharian B: tärk- Turkish: bırakmak (tr), salmak (tr) Ukrainian: відпуска́ти impf (vidpuskáty), відпусти́ти pf (vidpustýty)

to emotionally disengage or to distract oneself from a situation

Finnish: antaa olla, antaa mennä French: laisser tomber (fr) Italian: lasciarsi andare, prendere fiato Portuguese: ir (pt) Swedish: släppa (sv) Turkish: aldırmak Ukrainian: відпуска́ти impf (vidpuskáty), відпусти́ти pf (vidpustýty)

dismiss from employment

Danish: lade gå Finnish: irtisanoa (fi) German: sich trennen von Hungarian: elbocsát (hu), elküld (hu) Latin: demitto, dimitto Portuguese: demitir (pt) Swedish: säga upp (sv), ge silkessnöret (sv), entlediga (sv), avpollettera (sv)

euphemistic: to fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance

Finnish: antaa mennä German: nachlassen (de), sich gehen lassen (de) Hungarian: elengedi magát, elhagyja magát, elhanyagolja magát Italian: lasciarsi andare

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Latin: (please verify) amittere Norwegian: (please verify) slippe (no) Spanish: (please verify) soltar (es)