liberal

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
liberal
    adj 1: showing or characterized by broad-mindedness; "a broad
           political stance"; "generous and broad sympathies"; "a
           liberal newspaper"; "tolerant of his opponent's opinions"
           [syn: {broad}, {large-minded}, {liberal}, {tolerant}]
    2: having political or social views favoring reform and progress
    3: tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy,
       or tradition [ant: {conservative}]
    4: given or giving freely; "was a big tipper"; "the bounteous
       goodness of God"; "bountiful compliments"; "a freehanded
       host"; "a handsome allowance"; "Saturday's child is loving
       and giving"; "a liberal backer of the arts"; "a munificent
       gift"; "her fond and openhanded grandfather" [syn: {big},
       {bighearted}, {bounteous}, {bountiful}, {freehanded},
       {handsome}, {giving}, {liberal}, {openhanded}]
    5: not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been
       told"; "a free translation of the poem" [syn: {free},
       {loose}, {liberal}]
    n 1: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and
         reform and the protection of civil liberties [syn:
         {liberal}, {liberalist}, {progressive}] [ant:
         {conservative}, {conservativist}]
    2: a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and
       self-regulating markets
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Liberal \Lib"er*al\ (l[i^]b"[~e]r*al), a. [F. lib['e]ral, L.
   liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet, it
   pleases, E. lief. Cf. {Deliver}.]
   1. Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman;
      refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean;
      as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or
      studies. " Liberal education." --Macaulay. " A liberal
      tongue." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Bestowing in a large and noble way, as a freeman;
      generous; bounteous; open-handed; as, a liberal giver. "
      Liberal of praise." --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Infinitely good, and of his good
            As liberal and free as infinite.      --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Bestowed in a large way; hence, more than sufficient;
      abundant; bountiful; ample; profuse; as, a liberal gift; a
      liberal discharge of matter or of water.
      [1913 Webster]

            His wealth doth warrant a liberal dower. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Not strict or rigorous; not confined or restricted to the
      literal sense; free; as, a liberal translation of a
      classic, or a liberal construction of law or of language.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in
      spirit; catholic.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint;
      licentious. " Most like a liberal villain." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in
      political or religious philosophy; independent in opinion;
      not conservative; friendly to great freedom in the
      constitution or administration of government; having
      tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished
      from monarchical or aristocratic, forms; as, liberal
      thinkers; liberal Christians; the Liberal party.
      [1913 Webster]

            I confess I see nothing liberal in this " order of
            thoughts," as Hobbes elsewhere expresses it.
                                                  --Hazlitt.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Liberal has of, sometimes with, before the thing
         bestowed, in before a word signifying action, and to
         before a person or object on which anything is
         bestowed; as, to be liberal of praise or censure;
         liberal with money; liberal in giving; liberal to the
         poor.
         [1913 Webster]

   {The liberal arts}. See under {Art}.

   {Liberal education}, education that enlarges and disciplines
      the mind and makes it master of its own powers,
      irrespective of the particular business or profession one
      may follow.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Generous; bountiful; munificent; beneficent; ample;
        large; profuse; free.

   Usage: {Liberal}, {Generous}. Liberal is freeborn, and
          generous is highborn. The former is opposed to the
          ordinary feelings of a servile state, and implies
          largeness of spirit in giving, judging, acting, etc.
          The latter expresses that nobleness of soul which is
          peculiarly appropriate to those of high rank, -- a
          spirit that goes out of self, and finds its enjoyment
          in consulting the feelings and happiness of others.
          Generosity is measured by the extent of the sacrifices
          it makes; liberality, by the warmth of feeling which
          it manifests.
          [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Liberal \Lib"er*al\, n.
   One who favors greater freedom in political or religious
   matters; an opponent of the established systems; a reformer;
   in English politics, a member of the Liberal party, so
   called. Cf. {Whig}.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
Liberal, KS (city, FIPS 39825)
  Location: 37.04472 N, 100.93553 W
  Population (1990): 16573 (6663 housing units)
  Area: 24.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 67901
Liberal, MO (city, FIPS 41906)
  Location: 37.55878 N, 94.51598 W
  Population (1990): 684 (339 housing units)
  Area: 2.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 64762
    
from U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
Liberal, MO -- U.S. city in Missouri
   Population (2000):    779
   Housing Units (2000): 361
   Land area (2000):     0.837014 sq. miles (2.167855 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.006604 sq. miles (0.017103 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.843618 sq. miles (2.184958 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            41906
   Located within:       Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
   Location:             37.558860 N, 94.520546 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     64762
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Liberal, MO
    Liberal
    
from U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
Liberal, KS -- U.S. city in Kansas
   Population (2000):    19666
   Housing Units (2000): 7014
   Land area (2000):     11.058466 sq. miles (28.641294 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.138334 sq. miles (0.358283 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    11.196800 sq. miles (28.999577 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            39825
   Located within:       Kansas (KS), FIPS 20
   Location:             37.043418 N, 100.928133 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     67901
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Liberal, KS
    Liberal
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
207 Moby Thesaurus words for "liberal":
      Gospel side, abounding, abundant, advanced, affluent,
      all-sufficing, amiable, ample, aplenty, benevolent, big,
      big person, bighearted, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, broad,
      broad-gauge person, broad-minded, cantorial side, charitable,
      chivalrous, copious, cordial, counterclockwise, diffuse,
      disinterested, dispassionate, ecumenicist, effuse, eleemosynary,
      elevated, epidemic, exalted, exhaustless, extensive, extravagant,
      exuberant, fair, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung,
      far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, fat, fertile,
      flexible, flush, forbearing, free, free lance, free spirit,
      free trader, freehanded, freehearted, freethinker, freethinking,
      friendly, full, galore, generous, genial, giving, gracious, great,
      great of heart, greathearted, handsome, hearty, heroic, high,
      high-minded, hospitable, humanistic, idealistic, impartial,
      in plenty, in quantity, independent, indiscriminate, individualist,
      individualistic, indulgent, inexhaustible, isolationist, knightly,
      larboard, large, large-scale, largehearted, latitudinarian, lavish,
      left, left hand, left of center, left wing, left-hand,
      left-hand side, left-wing, left-winger, left-wingish, leftist,
      lenient, levorotatory, liberalist, liberalistic, libertarian,
      libertine, lofty, loose, luxuriant, magnanimous, many, maximal,
      much, mugwump, munificent, near, near side, neighborly, neutral,
      nigh, noble, noble-minded, nonpartisan, numerous, on the left,
      open, open-handed, open-minded, openhanded, openhearted, opulent,
      overflowing, philanthropic, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful,
      plenty, port, port tack, portside, prevailing, prevalent, princely,
      prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, progressive,
      progressivist, progressivistic, radical, rampant, receptive,
      reformer, reformist, replete, rich, rife, riotous,
      rugged individualist, running over, sinister, sinistral,
      sinistrocerebral, sinistrocular, sinistrogyrate, sinistrorse,
      stintless, sublime, superabundant, sweeping, teeming, third force,
      third world, tolerant, unbigoted, ungrudging, unjaundiced,
      unopinionated, unprejudiced, unselfish, unsparing, unstinted,
      unstinting, verso, warm, warmhearted, wealthy, welcoming,
      welfare stater, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided,
      well-stocked, wholesale, wide, wide-extended, wide-extending,
      wide-ranging, wide-reaching, wide-stretching, widespread,
      wrong side

    

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