noun
Meaning 1
Any mechanism or operation that unwinds something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
unwind
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ʌnˈwaɪnd/
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aɪnd
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CMU ARPABET: AH0 N W AY1 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To separate (something that is wound up)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- to unwind a ball of yarn
- Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: untwist, untwine
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To disentangle
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To relax; to chill out; to rest and become relieved of stress
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, intransitive
Examples
- After work, I like to unwind by smoking a pipe while reading the paper.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To be or become unwound; to be capable of being unwound or untwisted.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To close out a position, especially a complicated position.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To undo something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To navigate back through (a call stack) so as to generate a stack trace etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
Synonym of unroll (“replace a loop with a sequence”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences, software-compilation
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: unroll
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 10
To unravel or explain.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
cause to feel relaxed
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- A hot bath always relaxes me
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: relax, unstrain, unlax, loosen up, make relaxed
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: affect
Narrower terms: unbend
verb
Meaning 12
become less tense, rest, or take one's ease
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- He relaxed in the hot tub
- Let's all relax after a hard day's work
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: relax, loosen up, unbend, decompress, slow down
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: change state, turn
Narrower terms: vege out, vegetate, sit back, take it easy
verb
Meaning 13
reverse the winding or twisting of
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- unwind a ball of yarn
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wind off, unroll
Antonyms: wind
Broader terms: move, displace
verb
Meaning 14
separate the tangles of
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: disentangle
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: undo
Narrower terms: roll out, straighten, uncoil
History
Etymology
From Middle English unwinden, from Old English unwindan (“to unwind; unwrap”), from Proto-Germanic *andawindaną (“to unwind”); equivalent to un- + wind (“to coil”). Cognate with Dutch ontwinden (“to unwind”).
Across languages
Translations
46 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: развивам (razvivam) — to wind off
- Bulgarian: размотавам (razmotavam) — to wind off
- Finnish: purkaa — to wind off
- French: dérouler — to wind off
- French: débobiner — to wind off
- German: abwickeln — to wind off
- German: loswickeln — to wind off
- German: abspulen — to wind off
- German: abdocken (textil.) — to wind off
- Hungarian: legombolyít — to wind off
- Manx: neuchass — to wind off
- Manx: neuhogher — to wind off
- Portuguese: desenrolar — to wind off
- Romanian: deșira — to wind off
- Romanian: desfășura — to wind off
- Spanish: desenrollar — to wind off
- Swedish: nysta upp — to wind off
- Finnish: avata — to disentangle
- French: démêler — to disentangle
- German: entwirren — to disentangle
- Italian: slegare — to disentangle
- Portuguese: desembaraçar — to disentangle
- Swedish: nysta i — to disentangle
- Turkish: çözmek — to disentangle
- Finnish: rentoutua — to relax
- French: décompresser — to relax
- Galician: esparexer — to relax
- German: abschalten — to relax
- German: sich entspannen — to relax
- Hebrew: הִתְפַּרֵק (hitparék) — to relax
- Hungarian: ellazul — to relax
- Portuguese: espairecer — to relax
- Romanian: se destinde — to relax
- Russian: расслабляться (rasslabljatʹsja) — to relax
- Spanish: relajarse — to relax
- Swedish: varva ner — to relax
- Swedish: varva ned — to relax
- Turkish: gevşemek — to relax
- Turkish: rahatlamak — to relax
- Bulgarian: развивам се (razvivam se) — to be or become unwound
- Finnish: purkautua — to be or become unwound
- French: se défaire — to be or become unwound
- German: sich abwickeln — to be or become unwound
- Manx: neuchass — to be or become unwound
- Manx: neuhogher — to be or become unwound
- Romanian: se deșira — to be or become unwound