Definition of "free association" []

• A spontaneous, logically unconstrained and undirected association of ideas, emotions, and feelings. (noun)
• A psychoanalytic technique in which a patient's articulation of free associations is encouraged in order to reveal unconscious thoughts and emotions, such as traumatic experiences that have been repressed. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Progressives don't shoot people in churches, drag them behind trucks or generally try to suppress their fundamental human rights like free association. says ..."