licensed

1. 1
   holding a permitadjective

   Having been formally granted a license by the authority required to issue it.

   Only a licensed contractor may pull permits for major structural work.

   She has been a licensed pharmacist for over a decade.

   Similarcertified, accredited, registered, qualified, authorized

   Oppositeunlicensed, unqualified, uncertified, unregistered

   Note

   The everyday credential sense applies to a person or a business that holds permission from whoever must grant it: a licensed exterminator, pharmacist or contractor. It works as a gate, since only the licensed may do the thing. It takes no degrees: someone is licensed or not, never more licensed. When the permission is for selling drink, it narrows to the alcohol-selling meaning.

2. 2
   sells alcoholadjective

   Permitted under a license to sell alcoholic beverages, as a bar or restaurant is.

   The new bistro became fully licensed just before the holidays.

   Only licensed venues may serve spirits past midnight.

   Oppositeunlicensed

   Note

   A narrowing of the general sense: said of a shop, bar or restaurant, licensed with no further detail is understood to mean licensed to sell alcohol. Its natural home is the fixed phrase licensed premises, the legal-sounding name for places where drink is sold, and the phrase usually appears in talk of regulation, such as restricted opening hours.

3. 3
   gave permissionverb

   Simple past and past participle of license.

   The state licensed her to practice medicine in 2010.

   The studio licensed its characters to a toy manufacturer.

   Note

   The verb faces both ways in a deal, and its past form keeps both directions. A studio that licensed its characters to a toy maker granted permission to use them while keeping ownership; a developer that licensed an engine from a software firm paid for the right to use it. The preposition usually tells you which: licensed to for the owner granting, licensed from for the user acquiring.

4. 4
   officially brandedadjective

   Based on existing intellectual property and sold under a license granted by the rights holder.

   The licensed video game drew on decades of comic-book lore.

   Sales of licensed merchandise spiked after the film's release.

   Similarofficial, authorized, branded

   Oppositeunofficial, unlicensed, counterfeit, bootleg

   Note

   Here the license belongs to the product rather than to its maker. Characters, brands or franchises are borrowed from their owner under a formal grant of rights. It is the commercial branch of the general "authorized" meaning and covers tie-in merchandise and authorized adaptations. In talk about games it can carry a faint shrug: licensed titles sell well but are seldom critically acclaimed, so the word often suggests commercial rather than original work.

5. 5
   cleared for useadjective

   Permitted or authorized through the granting of an official license.

   The technology is licensed for medical applications only.

   Each track on the album is fully licensed for streaming.

   Similarauthorized, approved, permitted

   Oppositeunauthorized, unlicensed, unapproved

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