uncurl

U1N1C3U1R1L1

verb

To straighten out from being curled up.

“The hedgehog uncurled when its predators had left.”

OriginEnglish curl ← Middle English on- ← Old English on- →
Scrabble 8
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Meanings

verbuncurl (third-person singular simple present uncurls, present participle uncurling, simple past and past participle uncurled)

present singular third person uncurls · participle present uncurling · participle past uncurled · past uncurled

  1. intransitivetransitiveTo straighten out from being curled up.

    The hedgehog uncurled when its predators had left.

    2 more examples

    But when his foe lyes prostrate on the plain, He sheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; And, pleas'd with bloudless honours of the day, Walks over, and disdains th' inglorious Prey.

    1687, John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther

    Then he uncurled his trunk and knocked two of his dear brothers head over heels.

    1902, Rudyard Kipling, “The Elephant's Child”, in Just So Stories

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Germanic*anda-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*anda-
  5. Old Englishand-
  6. Old Englishon-
  7. Middle Englishon-
  8. Englishun-
  9. Englishcurl
  10. Englishuncurl

From un- + curl.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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