Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - licence

~ BrE license AmE n 1 »DOCUMENT« an official document giving you permission to own or do something for a period of time  (a firearms license | How much is the licence fee? | lose your licence (=have your driving licence taken by the police as punishment)) 2 »FREEDOM« a) freedom to do or say what you think is best  (Headteachers should be allowed greater licence in the exercise of their power.) b) freedom to behave in a way that is sexually immoral 3 artistic/poetic licence the way in which a writer or painter changes the facts of the real world to make their story, description, or picture of events more interesting or more beautiful 4 »RIGHT TO DO STH« official permission to do something, which seems to give someone the right to do something that is wrong + for  (Church groups see the new laws as a licence for promiscuity.) [m]licence to print money (=an officially approved plan in which there is no control over how much money is spent) 5 under licence if something is sold, made etc under licence it is sold etc with the permission of a company or organization