- [countable] an official document that shows that permission has been given to do, own or use something
- The driver did not hold a valid license.
- to get/obtain/have a license
- to grant/issue a license
- James lost his license for six months (= had his license taken away by the police as a punishment).
- Her license was revoked by the court.
- license for something a license for the software
- license to do something You need a license to fish in this river.
- without a license He was caught driving a car without a license.
- Is there a license fee?
- a license holder (= a person who has been given a license)
- a license agreement
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- [uncountable, singular] license (to do something) (formal) freedom to do or say whatever you want, often something bad or unacceptable
- Lack of punishment seems to give youngsters license to break the law.
- [uncountable] (formal) freedom to behave in a way that is not considered sexually moral
Word Originlate Middle English: from licence. The spelling -se arose by analogy with pairs such as practice, practise.
Idioms
See license in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee license in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishartistic/poetic license
- the freedom of artists or writers to change facts in order to make a story, painting, etc. more interesting or beautiful
a license to print money
- (disapproving) used to describe a business that makes a lot of money with little effort
under license
- (of a product) made with the permission of a company or an organization
- They are Italian trains, but they will be built in Britain under license.
- The vaccine is manufactured under license locally.
Check pronunciation:
license