adj
Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered to provide general knowledge, as opposed to vocational/occupational, technical or mechanical training.
He had a full education studying the liberal arts.
Americans remain enamored with Europe's ability to produce the consequential thought for America. It was the same in nearly every liberal field. Education sought its roots in such Europeans as Froebel, Frobenius, and Rousseau. Political science tried to connect to Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and Otto von Bismarck, for instance. Economics copied the thought of Adam Smith, […]
Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.
He was liberal with his compliments.
Indeed, the Government has been very liberal in the expenditure of public money
Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.
For this reason a liberal amount of piping should be used. If a liberal supply of piping is provided at first, the first cost will of course be greater, but the extra expenditure is called for but once.
Unrestrained, licentious.
Myself, my brother, and this grieved count, Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night, Talk with a ruffian at her chamber-window; Who hath indeed, most like a liberal villain, Confess'd the vile encounters they have had A thousand times in secret.
Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.
noun
One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
Someone with progressive or left-wing views, especially on social and environmental issues.
And I love Puerto Ricans and Negros As long as they don't move next door. So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal.
A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).
A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.
noun
A political party and philosophy
A member or supporter of a Liberal Party
A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada, or its predecessors, or provincial equivalents, or their predecessors
A Liberal Democrat.
A Whig.