Is "release" a count noun or mass noun in the meaning of "let someone or something out of a place"? I see conflicting information from different dictionaries, even within the same dictionary.
MacMillan defines it as uncountable:
[UNCOUNTABLE]
The release of Nelson Mandela was watched by millions of people on TV.
We’re doing all we can to prevent the release of toxic waste into the oceans.
the release of secret government information
But the same usage is defined in Cambridge Dictionary as countable or singular. I saw this line on the Internet, which seems to suggest it is countable:
A judicial mandate to a prison official ordering a prisoner be brought to court in order to determine imprisonment or a release from legal custody. (source)
But there are also other examples that suggest otherwise. Is "release" countable in this definition? What about in this following sentence? Can it be pluralized?
We knew that the game’s release was imminent.