1690s, "free to move the feet, unshackled," from foot (n.) + loose (adj.). Figurative sense of "free to act as one pleases" is from 1873.

industries that do not rely on the location of raw materials or the cost of transporting them for their own locational decision-making. This is based more on the location of markets and labour pools w [..]

(adj) free to go or do as one pleases

A 'footloose' production is a project that has qualified interstate or international production destination alternatives.

If the foot of a sail is not secured properly, it is footloose, blowing around in the wind.

Footloose and Fancy-Free: When the bottom of the sail that is known as the foot of the sail is not attached to the boom. If it is not properly attached it may become footloose causing the vessel not t [..]

If the foot of a sail is not secured properly, it is footloose, blowing around in the wind.

The bottom portion of a sail is called the foot. If it is not secured, it is footloose and it dances randomly in the wind.

If the foot of a sail is not secured, it is footloose.

Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily without many commitments or responsibility. ''He was footloose in his youth.'' (nautical) Of a sail: not properly secured at the bottom.

An industry which by the nature of the raw material used and its labour, market and transport needs is not tied to a particular location.