freestyle

noun, verb — 11 senses

freestyle

noun

/ˈfɹiːˌstaɪl/ · /fɹiˌstaɪəl/

Etymology From free + style.

8 senses
  1. 1A swimming event in which the contestants may choose any stroke.
  2. 2The swimming stroke commonly referred to as the front…
  3. 3A cross-country skiing event in which the competitors…
  4. 4The skiing style commonly referred to as skating.
  5. 5A style of wrestling in which any non-injurious holds…
  6. 6A form of rapping in which the emcee makes up lyrics…
  7. 7Anything done in an improvised or unrestricted way.
  8. 8Ellipsis of Latin freestyle, a form of electronic dance music.

› A sports event where competitors can choose…

1

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Swimming A swimming event in which the contestants may choose any stroke.

› A sports event where competitors can choose… › A swimming event in which the contestants…

2

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Swimming Broadly The swimming stroke commonly referred to as the front crawl or the Australian crawl.

› A sports event where competitors can choose…

3

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skiing, Sports A cross-country skiing event in which the competitors may choose any style of skiing.

› A sports event where competitors can choose… › A cross-country skiing event in which the…

4

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skiing, Sports Broadly The skiing style commonly referred to as skating.

› A sports event where competitors can choose…

5

Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War, Wrestling A style of wrestling in which any non-injurious holds are permitted.

6

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A form of rapping in which the emcee makes up lyrics while performing.

  • In the world of hip hop, many freestyle artists have been known to speak, “Check one, check two!” into the microphone. The phrasing serves two purposes: (1) to put the freestyle artist on rhythm with the beat and (2) […]2014, Michael W. Waters, Freestyle: Reflections on Faith, Family, Justice, and Pop Culture, Fresh Air Books, →ISBN:
7

Broadly Anything done in an improvised or unrestricted way.

  • (While there are definitely a large number of Japanese cookbooks out there with detailed instructions and measurements, it was this freestyle cooking philosophy I most frequently encountered.)2012, Sarah Marx Feldner, A Cook's Journey to Japan: 100 Homestyle Recipes from Japanese Kitchens, Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN:
8

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of Latin freestyle, a form of electronic dance music.

  • A not always visibly but nevertheless significantly Latin music, freestyle originated alongside hip-hop in the Bronx and achieved a quicker yet more fleeting commercial success. The style’s similarities to contemporaneous R&B and hi-NRG endeared it to pop radio programmers, […]2012 March 2, Nick Minichino, “A Quick Primer On Freestyle: 1980s Dancepop's Most Underheralded Genre”, in The Village Voice, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2022:
  • Already a veteran DJ-producer on New York’s freestyle scene, 23-year-old Frankie Bones was flown to England for an Energy rave.2012, Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash, Soft Skull Press, page 281:
Derived terms
freestyler, freestyle wrestling, freestylist, Latin freestyle, Miami freestyle

freestyle

verb

Etymology From free + style.

1

Especially, In rap music To improvise one's own style; to ad-lib.

  • And just hours after the famous golfer died in an airplane accident, I freestyled to a less talented rival, “Stop now before you get hurt / Your whole style should never take flight like Payne Stewart.”2016, Jensen Karp, Kanye West Owes Me $300: And Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big, Crown, →ISBN, page 47:
2

To improvise one's dance moves; dance freely.

3

To improvise something in an unrestricted way.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.