Meaning of license in English

license

noun

US (UK licence)

/ˈlaɪ.səns/ uk

/ˈlaɪ.səns/

an official document that gives you permission to own, do, or use something, usually after you have paid money and/or taken a test:

a dog license

a driver's license

[ S or U ] formal

permission or freedom to do what you want:

give someone license She says she has been given license to think creatively about the problem.

allow someone license As parents, they allowed their children very little license.

[ + to infinitive ] He was given license to reform the organization.

artistic/poetic license

the freedom of artists, writers, etc. to change the facts of the real world when producing art

under license

with special permission from the person or company who has created a product:

It's a German product, made under license in British factories.

More examplesFewer examples

He was fined for driving without a license last week.
It would appear (that) nobody on board the aircraft actually had a license to fly it.
State law requires voters to show a driver's license or other photo ID before voting.
He risked the loss of his medical license.
You must have a state license in order to marry.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Official documents

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Freedom to act

Allowing and permitting

Idiom

be a license to print money

license

verb [ T ]

/ˈlaɪ.səns/ uk

/ˈlaɪ.səns/

(UK also licence)

to give someone official permission to do or have something:

license something to someone/something The universities make discoveries and license them to a company.

[ + to infinitive ] Several companies have been licensed to sell these products.

More examplesFewer examples

Both companies are licensed to use this source code in their products for as long as they choose.
Amsterdam reduced the bureaucracy involved in licensing a cafe or restaurant to a single online form.
Unlike Ralph Lauren and other designers, Cashin resisted licensing her name.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Allowing and permitting

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Related words

licensed

licensing

(Definition of license from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

license | Intermediate English

license

noun

/ˈlɑɪ·səns/

license noun (DOCUMENT)

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[ C ]

an official document that gives you permission to own, do, or use something:

a fishing/export/driver’s license

license noun (FREEDOM)

[ U ]

the freedom to break rules or principles, or to change facts, esp. when producing literature or works of art:

poetic/artistic license

license

verb [ T ]

/ˈlɑɪ·səns/

license verb [T] (HAVE DOCUMENT)

to have an official document that gives you permission to own, do, or use something:

She’s licensed to teach elementary school.

(Definition of license from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

license | Business English

license

verb [ T ]

/ˈlaɪsəns/ us

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LAW, GOVERNMENT

to give someone official permission to do or have something:

license sb to do sth The government is now prepared to license companies to award their own degrees.

LAW, COMMERCE, IT

to give someone permission to make, produce, or use something that you have created or that belongs to you:

license sth to sb It would create an opportunity for type designers to license fonts to specific websites.

LAW, COMMERCE, IT

to get permission to make, produce, or use something that has been created by or belongs to another person or company, usually by paying for it:

license sth from sb The TV company is seeking to license content from providers in every language.

(Definition of license from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of license

license

Hunting and fishing licenses can still be purchased at the states' wildlife offices or at businesses that sell the licenses.

From OregonLive.com

Even today, retired physicians often keep a limited medical license to treat their family members.

From CNN

That's any company that licenses patents but doesn't actually have any other business.

From CNET

Some people may think licensing your dog just makes it easier to find it if it runs away.

From Business Insider

Publishing rights control the song in idea form -- if you want to record and sell a cover version, you need a publishing license.

From NPR

They're people who hold a medical license, but they're really not practicing medicine.

From CBS News

But none of the other information that now appears on your driver's license needs to appear there.

From CNN

But they won't be able to use a driver's license.

From CNET

Most of the state's 67 counties are issuing licenses to all couples.

From Los Angeles Times

They may well have photographed your license plate.

From The Atlantic

How much did you cut licenses and permits on federal land and federal waters?

From CNN

At that point they asked me for my driver's license.

From Huffington Post

Then, having that license in hand, you had to go actually get the bits, which might mean more licensing and money.

From Wired

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of license?