as in to liberate
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
under the cover of darkness animal rights activists emancipated the inhabitants of the mink ranch
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Recent Examples of emancipate
Jenny Humphrey, who has been trying to emancipate herself from her family, is not-so-secretly staying with Eric.
—
Abrigail Williams, Vogue, 27 Nov. 2025
Even those who emancipated the theory from complex numbers admit that the latter are a natural fit.
—Daniel Garisto, Quanta Magazine, 7 Nov. 2025
Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.
—Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2025
In the Revolutionary War itself, Britain’s Lord Dunmore had emancipated large numbers of southern slaves as a war measure—a fact well-known in both the 1770s and the 1860s.
—Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emancipate
Abrigail Williams, Vogue, 27 Nov. 2025
Even those who emancipated the theory from complex numbers admit that the latter are a natural fit.
—Daniel Garisto, Quanta Magazine, 7 Nov. 2025
Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.
—Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2025
In the Revolutionary War itself, Britain’s Lord Dunmore had emancipated large numbers of southern slaves as a war measure—a fact well-known in both the 1770s and the 1860s.
—Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emancipate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emancipate
Verb
-
During the Iraq War, the popular narrative was that our heroic soldiers and marines were going in to liberate the people, free women, and topple a brutal dictator—the same nonsense we are fed now about Iran.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
-
That audience members, by virtue of access to a camera, keyboard, and the Internet, can capture, compile, edit, frame, and package an event as news without any regard to journalistic ethics is liberating and constraining at the same time.—
Shepherd Mpofu,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The songs were radiant, ecstatic, and cleansing, a deep exhale from a band freed from boardroom expectations.—
Dan Stahl,
New Yorker,
1 May 2026
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That sentence was later commuted to 27 years, and then by a sixth in a Myanmar New Year amnesty on April 17 that freed her ally and co-defendant Win Myint, the former president.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
The group, originally signed to RCA Records, released two albums of bustling synth pop and opened for Harry Styles in the late twenty-tens but was cast off in the early days of the pandemic owing to low sales.—
Dan Stahl,
New Yorker,
1 May 2026
-
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.—
Zev Fima,Alexa LoMonaco,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
Verb
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When the building was later gutted after an earthquake, her husband, Brian Miller, even managed to rescue a piece of its history — and his wife's backstory.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
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Unlike a pig sanctuary or farm where abandoned or abused pigs live out their last days, the group is focused on rescuing, fostering and finding permanent families for pigs.—
Eric Adler
April 26,
Kansas City Star,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
One Secret Service agent was shot but was saved by a bulletproof vest.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
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In virtually every track meet, especially the big ones, Rancho Buena Vista High School’s Justian Richardson has saved his best triple jump for last.—
Steve Brand,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, which enfranchised formerly enslaved men, seemingly brought the push for voting rights to fruition.—
Time,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Open primaries would enfranchise more than a million New York voters, who are disproportionately young and represent communities of color.—
John Avlon,
New York Daily News,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Emancipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emancipate. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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