Lib·er·ty n.; pl. Liberties
 1. The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom; -- opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.
    But ye . . . caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection.   --Jer. xxxiv. 16.
    Delivered fro the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.   --Bible, 1551. Rom. viii. 21.
 2. Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon locomotion.
    Being pent from liberty, as I am now.   --Shak.
 3. A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted; leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave a court, and the like.
 4. Privilege; exemption; franchise; immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant; as, the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.
    His majesty gave not an entire county to any; much less did he grant . . . any extraordinary liberties.   --Sir J. Davies.
 5. The place within which certain immunities are enjoyed, or jurisdiction is exercised. [Eng.]
    Brought forth into some public or open place within the liberty of the city, and there . . . burned.   --Fuller.
 6. A certain amount of freedom; permission to go freely within certain limits; also, the place or limits within which such freedom is exercised; as, the liberties of a prison.
 7. A privilege or license in violation of the laws of etiquette or propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty.
    He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had taken liberties with him.   --Macaulay.
 8. The power of choice; freedom from necessity; freedom from compulsion or constraint in willing.
    The idea of liberty is the idea of a power in any agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to the determination or thought of the mind, whereby either of them is preferred to the other.   --Locke.
    This liberty of judgment did not of necessity lead to lawlessness.   --J. A. Symonds.
 9. Manege A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the tongue of the horse.
 10. Naut. Leave of absence; permission to go on shore.
 At liberty. (a) Unconfined; free. (b) At leisure.
 Civil liberty, exemption from arbitrary interference with person, opinion, or property, on the part of the government under which one lives, and freedom to take part in modifying that government or its laws.
 Liberty bell. See under Bell.
 Liberty cap. (a) The Roman pileus which was given to a slave at his manumission. (b) A limp, close-fitting cap with which the head of representations of the goddess of liberty is often decked. It is sometimes represented on a spear or a liberty pole.
 Liberty of the press, freedom to print and publish without official supervision. Liberty party, the party, in the American Revolution, which favored independence of England; in more recent usage, a party which favored the emancipation of the slaves.
 Liberty pole, a tall flagstaff planted in the ground, often surmounted by a liberty cap. [U. S.]
 Moral liberty, that liberty of choice which is essential to moral responsibility.
 Religious liberty, freedom of religious opinion and worship.
 Syn: -- Leave; permission; license.
 Usage: -- Liberty, Freedom. These words, though often interchanged, are distinct in some of  their applications. Liberty has reference to previous restraint; freedom, to the simple, unrepressed exercise of our powers. A slave is set at liberty; his master had always been in a state of freedom. A prisoner under trial may ask liberty (exemption from restraint) to speak his sentiments with freedom (the spontaneous and bold utterance of his feelings). The liberty of the press is our great security for freedom of thought.
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 Phryg·i·an cap A close-fitting cap represented in Greek art as worn by Orientals, assumed to have been conical in shape. It has been adopted in modern art as the so-called liberty cap, or cap of liberty.
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 Cap n.
 1. A covering for the head; esp. (a) One usually with a visor but without a brim, for men and boys; (b) One of lace, muslin, etc., for women, or infants; (c) One used as the mark or ensign of some rank, office, or dignity, as that of a cardinal.
 2. The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
    Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.   --Shak.
 3. A respectful uncovering of the head.
    He that will give a cap and make a leg in thanks.   --Fuller.
 4. Zool. The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.
 5. Anything resembling a cap in form, position, or use; as: (a) Arch. The uppermost of any assemblage of parts; as, the cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping, cornice, lintel, or plate. (b) Something covering the top or end of a thing for protection or ornament. (c) Naut. A collar of iron or wood used in joining spars, as the mast and the topmast, the bowsprit and the jib boom; also, a covering of tarred canvas at the end of a rope. (d) A percussion cap. See under Percussion. (e) Mech. The removable cover of a journal box. (f) Geom. A portion of a spherical or other convex surface.
 6. A large size of writing paper; as, flat cap; foolscap; legal cap.
 Cap of a cannon, a piece of lead laid over the vent to keep the priming dry; -- now called an apron.
 Cap in hand, obsequiously; submissively.
 Cap of liberty. See Liberty cap, under Liberty.
 Cap of maintenance, a cap of state carried before the kings of England at the coronation. It is also carried before the mayors of some cities.
 Cap money, money collected in a cap for the huntsman at the death of the fox.
 Cap paper. (a) A kind of writing paper including flat cap, foolscap, and legal cap. (b) A coarse wrapping paper used for making caps to hold commodities.
 Cap rock Mining, The layer of rock next overlying ore, generally of barren vein material.
 Flat cap, cap See Foolscap.
 Forage cap, the cloth undress head covering of an officer of soldier.
 Legal cap, a kind of folio writing paper, made for the use of lawyers, in long narrow sheets which have the fold at the top or “narrow edge.”
 To set one's cap, to make a fool of one. (Obs.) --Chaucer.
 To set one's cap for, to try to win the favor of a man with a view to marriage. [Colloq.]
 liberty cap
      n : close-fitting conical cap worn as a symbol of liberty during
          the French Revolution and in the U.S. before 1800