extricate

E1X8T1R1I1C3A1T1E1
UK/ˈɛk.stɹɪ.keɪt/Canada, US, UK/ˈɛk.stɹɪˌkeɪt/Canada, US, UK/ˈɛk.stɹəˌkeɪt/Australia/ˈek.stɹɪˌkæɪt/

verb

To free, disengage, loosen, or untangle.

“I finally managed to extricate myself from the tight jacket.”

Similar
unthreaduntangledisentangledisencumber
OriginLatin extrīcātus ← Proto-Italic *eks ← Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs →
UncommonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbextricate (third-person singular simple present extricates, present participle extricating, simple past and past participle extricated)

present singular third person extricates · participle present extricating · participle past extricated · past extricated

  1. transitiveTo free, disengage, loosen, or untangle.

    I finally managed to extricate myself from the tight jacket.

    1 more example

    The firefighters had to use the jaws of life to extricate Monica from the car wreck.

    Synonyms: unthread

  2. rareTo free from intricacies or perplexity.

    Your argumentation ... is invelloped with certain intricacies, that are not easie to be extricated.

    1662: Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue Two)

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo free, disengage, loosen, or untangle.

Similar
unthread

More synonyms by meaning

verbrelease from entanglement of difficulty

Similar
untangledisentangledisencumber
Broader
freedisengage
Also see
absolvedisembarrassdisencumberdisentangleextirpateliberateuntangle

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  3. Proto-Italic*eks
  4. Latinex
  5. Latinex-
  6. Latintrīcae
  7. Latinextrīcō
  8. Latinextrīcātus
  9. Englishextricate

Borrowed from Latin extrīcātus, past participle of extrīcō. Compare intricate.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian измъквам, освобождавам
  • измъквам (izmăkvam)to free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • освобождавам (osvoboždavam)to free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Catalan desempallegar, deslliurar
  • desempallegarto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • deslliurarto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Czech vymanit
  • vymanitto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Dutch bevrijden, ontwarren
  • bevrijdento free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • ontwarrento free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • verlossento free, disengage, loosen or untangle
French extirper
  • extirperto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
German befreien
  • befreiento free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Hungarian kiszabadít, kibogoz
  • kiszabadítto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • kibogozto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • kihúzto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • kivágto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Icelandic losa, leysa
  • losato free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • leysato free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Irish fuascail
  • fuascailto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Korean 탈출(脫出)시키다
  • 탈출(脫出)시키다 (talchulsikida)to free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Latin extrīcō, expediō
  • extrīcōto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • expediōto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Polish wyswobadzać, wyswabadzać
  • wyswobadzaćto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • wyswabadzaćto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • wyswobodzićto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Russian освобожда́ть
  • освобожда́ть (osvoboždátʹ)to free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Scottish Gaelic fuasgail, saor
  • fuasgailto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • saorto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Spanish librar, sacar
  • librarto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
  • sacarto free, disengage, loosen or untangle
Cite this entry
APA

extricate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extricate

MLA

“extricate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extricate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extricate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extricate.

Source: extricate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.