release

Compared meaning: to set someone or something free (verb).

比较义项：使某人／某地摆脱束缚、控制或占领而获得自由（动词）。

• free

  General, everyday verb for releasing someone or something from confinement, restriction, or a burden; neutral register, used for people, animals, or abstract constraints.

  泛指使人、动物或抽象事物摆脱束缚、限制或负担的日常用词，语域中性。

  Rescuers worked for hours to free the trapped miners from the collapsed tunnel.

  救援人员花了几个小时才把被困矿工从坍塌的隧道中救出来。

• release 本词

  Often formal or official: to let someone go from custody or detention, or to let an animal go back into the wild; also used for physically letting go.

  常用于正式／官方场合，指将某人从拘留、监禁中放出，或把动物放归野外，也可指身体上的松开、放开。

  The prison board voted to release him after five years for good behavior.

  监狱委员会投票决定因他表现良好而在五年后将他释放。

• liberate

  Formal and often political or military: to free a country, city, or people from oppression or enemy occupation, implying a struggle.

  正式用词，常用于政治或军事语境，指将一个国家、城市或民族从压迫或敌军占领下解放出来，隐含经历斗争。

  Allied forces moved north to liberate the city from enemy occupation.

  盟军向北推进，将该城市从敌军占领中解放出来。

Free, release, and liberate all mean to set someone or something free, but formality differs. Free is the general, everyday word for ending confinement or a burden. Release often means letting someone go from custody. Liberate is formal and political, freeing a country from oppression.

这三个词在本义项中都表示使人或地方摆脱束缚、控制或占领而重获自由，但正式程度和典型语境不同：free 最通用，release 偏正式／官方放行，liberate 最正式且常用于政治、军事场合。这里不比较 free 的“免费的”形容词义、release 的“发布（唱片、消息等）”义，以及 liberate 非正式的“顺手拿走”义。

Compared meaning: to formally make something available (verb).

比较义项：正式发布或推出某事物（动词）。

• issue

  Issue is formal and official, used when an authority produces and supplies something such as documents, currency, or permits, without necessarily implying public release.

  issue 语气正式、带官方色彩，指权威机构正式签发或提供某物（如证件、货币或许可证），不一定意味着面向大众公开。

  The government will issue new identity cards starting next year.

  政府将从明年开始签发新的身份证。

• publish

  Publish specifically means making written or printed material, such as books or research, available to readers through a formal media or print process.

  publish 特指通过正式的出版或媒体渠道，将书籍、研究等文字作品提供给读者阅读。

  The professor will publish her research in a leading journal.

  这位教授将把她的研究发表在一份权威期刊上。

• release 本词

  Release stresses the moment something previously withheld, such as music, films, or information, is first made available or public.

  release 强调把此前未公开的内容（如音乐、电影或信息）首次公开或推出的那一刻。

  The band will release a surprise single at midnight.

  这支乐队将在午夜发布一首惊喜单曲。

Issue, publish, and release all mean to formally make something available. Issue is formal, used when an authority supplies documents or permits. Publish means making written material available to readers, like books. Release stresses something withheld becoming public. Issue can mean "a problem," not compared.

这三个词在“正式发布或推出某事物”这一意义上相近，容易混淆，但侧重不同：issue 强调由权威机构正式签发或供应；publish 特指以印刷或媒体形式向公众提供文字作品；release 强调把此前未公开的内容首次公之于众。这里不比较 issue 作名词表示“问题”的意思（词库例句中的 fix the issue 用的就是这个不同的名词义项）。