From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlicenseli‧cense (also licence British English) /ˈlaɪsəns/ AWL verb [transitive] BBTto give official permission for someone to do or produce something, or for an activity to take placebe licensed to do something a restaurant which is licensed to sell alcohol The vaccine has been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration.Grammar License is usually passive.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
license• Under the 1643 ordinance to control printing, Bachilor was appointed one of the twelve divines empowered to license books of divinity.• Twenty-eight delightful slices of raw rock'n'roll in one neat package, licensed by reissue specialist Chady from the original Chess masters.• Pilots over age 40 must renew the medical certificate required as a condition of licensing every two years.• Burlington said it is considering other candidates to serve as licensed operator of shoe departments in the affected stores after this year.• The process was developed in 1953 and has been licensed out to more than 60 plants in numerous countries.• The law would have changed the composition of a press supervisory board, which licenses publications, to include more reformers.• The Justice Department negotiated a settlement in 1994 of charges that Microsoft enforced anticompetitive software licensing terms computer manufacturers.be licensed to do something• Here, you were licensed to admire without discrimination: the body as aesthetic object, pure and simple.• The consortium will then be licensed to operate the railways for 35 years.• The abattoirs are licensed to slaughter cattle not destined for the food chain.• The institutions will be licensed to use the language only for research and development purposes, not for developing business applications.• This mainly involves monitoring speed limits and ensuring that all craft are licensed to use the waterway.• Both companies are licensed to use this source code in their products for as long as they choose.From Longman Business Dictionarylicenseli‧cense /ˈlaɪsəns/ (also licence British English) verb [transitive]LAW1to give official permission for someone to do something or for an activity to take placeThe building contractors we hired were licensed by the General Service Administration.The company is confident that it will be licensed to do business in California after the start of the new year.2to give someone permission to make or produce something to which you hold the patent (=the legal right to make or sell a new product) or copyright (=the legal right to be the only producer or seller of a book, play, film, or record), usually in return for paymentThe company has licensed certain manufacturing and marketing rights for the drug.license something to somebodyHe has licensed the device to a farm equipment manufacturer.3to receive permission to make or produce something from the person or company that holds the patent or copyright to it, usually in return for paymentlicense something from somebodyIt has licensed electronic publishing rights for the Chinese dictionary from a British publisher. —licensed adjective [only before a noun]licensed operators of nuclear power plants —licensing noun [uncountable]It has licensing agreements that allow it to use some of Computer Associates’ software.→ See Verb table 