Said of a capability of a programming language or hardwareequipment that is available by its design without needing cleverness to implement: "In APL, we get the matrix operations for free." "And owing to the way revisions are stored in this system, you get revision trees for free." The term usually refers to a serendipitous feature of doing things a certain way (compareef="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=big win">big win), but it may refer to an intentional but secondary feature. [ef="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Jargon File">Jargon File] (1994-12-14)