let go

let go (third-person singular simple present lets go, present participle letting go, simple past and past participle let go)

1. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see let,‎ go.

   Please, Mom, can you let me go to her party?

2. (intransitive, with of and transitive, with object before go) To release from one's grasp; to go from a state of holding on to a state of no longer holding on.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.

   You're hurting him! Let him go!

   Let go of the phone.

3. To emotionally disengage or to distract oneself from a situation.
   • 2010, Gary Haymes, Go Beyond Stress

     You are supported, so you can just let go and relax. Inhale and slowly exhale.

4. (euphemistic) To dismiss from employment.

   The secretary didn't work out, so her boss told her she was being let go.

   • 2017 October 14, Paul Doyle, “Mauricio Pellegrino yet to find attacking solution for stuttering Southampton”, in the Guardian‎:

     Puel was let go in June despite leading Southampton to their first major final for 14 years and an eighth-place finish in the Premier League. But apparently his style was too boring and some players and many fans disliked his method, so he had to go – fair enough but look at them now.

5. (euphemistic, transitive) To fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance.
   1. (euphemistic, usually reflexively) To gain weight

      Wow, dude! You've really let yourself go this time!

• (release from one's grasp): release, unhand

• (no longer hold on): leggo (imperative)