unclose

present singular third person uncloses · participle present unclosing · participle past unclosed · past unclosed

1. ambitransitiveTo open; to unclench.

   His eyes he opened, shut, again unclosed, / For all was doubt and dizziness […]

   1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.112

   4 more examples

   They measured it to some considerable length—another door presented itself to the searching hand of Carlstadt the Baron, but resisted the repeated efforts made to unclose it.

   1807, [Miss Guion], chapter I, in The Three Germans. Mysteries Exemplified in the Life of Holstein of Lutztein. A German Romance. […], volume I, London: […] J[ames] F[letcher] Hughes, […], →OCLC, page 11

   All flowers in field or forest which unclose Their trembling eyelids to the kiss of day, Swinging their censers in the element, With orient incense lit by the new ray Burned slow and inconsumably, and sent Their odorous sighs up to the smiling air […]

   1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Triumph of Life

   She heard the door underneath unclose, and from underneath the green verandah she saw her mother saunter out.

   1880, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], chapter II, in Moths […], volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 54

   Not a word passed between them as she went to the cupboard in the corner and replaced the hammer, which she had taken without asking leave; together—she unclosed her fist—with a handful of nails.

   2000, Hayden White, Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect, page 78

2. transitiveTo disclose (something secret or hidden).

   But now, my friend, that thou may’ſt not ſuppoſe / Thoſe words to be my own, I muſt uncloſe / The Secrets of my Heart, and plainly tell / What God, of late, did to my Soul reveal.

   1685, William Clark, “Part II. Cap. IV.”, in The Grand Tryal: or, Poetical Exercitations upon the Book of Job. […], Edinburgh: […] [T]he Heir of Andrew Anderson, […], →OCLC, page 29

   2 more examples

   Loue in what ere hee doth, doth not diſguiſe his face, / His harte lyes on his toung, vnſeen hee neuer goes, / Hee weares no Giges ring, hee is not one of thoſe, / Hee doth vncloſe his thoghts, to gayn vnfayned grace[.]

   1608, Otho Venius, translated by R[ichard] V[erstegan], “Loue Requyres Sinceritie”, in Amorum Emblemata, Figuris Æneis Incisa Studio Othonis Væni Bataou-Lugdunensis. Emblemes of Loue. […], Antwerp: […] Typis Henrici Swingenij, →OCLC, page 54

   He [Antoninus of Florence] makes clear and regulates morality by pointing out to men the offices of Christian and civilized life; and to souls enamoured of heaven, uncloses the treasures of that celestial wisdom which speaks to men of a better country, labouring continually, by word and deed, by the example of a most innocent and austere life, to lead the fallen back to the path of virtue; […]

   1876, [Margaret] Oliphant, “The Monks of San Marco. Chapter VIII. II.—The Good Archbishop.”, in The Makers of Florence: Dante, Giotto, Savonarola; and Their City, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 211–212

3. computingTo undo the act of closing; to restore (something closed).

   to unclose a window

comparative more unclose · superlative most unclose

1. Not close; distant.

   And in an unclose vote, not enough pro-life delegates cast their ballot to put the abortion issue before the convention.

   2010, Ben J. Wattenberg, Values Matter Most, page 50