unfog

present singular third person unfogs · participle present unfogging · participle past unfogged · past unfogged

1. transitiveTo remove the moisture or fog from.

   After a shower or bath, use a hair dryer to unfog the steamed-up mirror.

   2005, Joan Wilen, Lydia Wilen, Bottom Line's healing remedies, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   If you get any of this on the faceplate, you won't be able to unfog your mask until you wash the silicone off the glass with soap and water.

   1975, Henry Ketels, Jack McDowell, Safe Skin and Scuba Diving: Adventure in the Underwater World

   ...and it was so embarrassing and they always seem to bring the lights on immediately, and here I am with my wet glasses, and I'm trying to unfog them and get the bloodshot veins out of my eyes.

   1975, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, Joan Winston, Star trek lives!, page 151

2. transitiveTo free from confusion

   Let us unfog our minds, and abide by the eternal largesse of our hearts.

   1918, The Bookman - Volume 46, page 713

   3 more examples

   Until we clarify our minds, or at least "unfog" them a little on this issue, there will be a great many related matters on which it will be difficult for us to gain perspective.

   1957, Adult Leadership - Volumes 6-7, page 61

   It would help to unfog the channels of distribution so that manufacturers, jobbers and retailers would know where they stood.

   1962, United States. Congress. Senate. Commerce, Quality Stabilization, Hearings, 87-2, April 9, 19, 23, May 24, 25, 1962

   Prepositions are not bad or wrong necessarily, and they may not be incorrect grammatically, but they signal an area that can be revised if you want to write more explicitly or to unfog your writing.

   1972, Donal W. McIntosh, Techniques of Business Communication, page 192

3. intransitiveTo become less covered in fog or mist.

   His glasses started to unfog then, and he saw the stranger on the couch.

   2001, Stephen King, Dreamcatcher: A Novel, →ISBN, page 64

   2 more examples

   The meter would fog up when removed from the freezer (water vapor condensation, a natural effect), but would quickly unfog in the oven.

   1986, Amateur Radio - Volume 42, Issues 7-12, page 86

   It was hot, sweaty work, and I had to pause a couple of times to let my helmet unfog.

   1994, Grey Rollins, Analog, page 88

4. intransitiveTo become clearer or less confused.

   My mind was starting to unfog.

   1993, Martin Harry Greenberg, Crimes of passion: twenty-three tales of love and hate, →ISBN, page 31

   2 more examples

   What connection there could possibly be she didn't know, but somehow the moment she touched Jess Forbes's forehead and cheek, feeling the faintest tingle in her nervous fingers as she did, at that moment it was as though she sensed the confusion in her spirit beginning to unfog.

   1996, Michael R. Phillips, Mercy and Eagleflight, →ISBN, page 164

   As my brain continued to unfog, I realized I wasn't tangled up in blankets but tied to a chair.

   2012, Anastasia Pollack, Death by Killer Mop Doll

5. transitiveTo adjust the lenses a patient looks through in order to clarify their vision.

   One has only to unfog the patient by adding minus sphere to push the focal lines onto the retina (Fig 35).

   1980, Ophthalmology Basic and Clinical Science Course, 1980-1981

   2 more examples

   Sometimes, if vision is good and the same with each eye, I fog and unfog both eyes at once, in order to save time.

   1916, Charles McCormick, A System of Mature Medicine: Optics and ophthalmology, page 152

   Using the spherical lenses, unfog the patient as above. When this is completed, rotate the cylinder cell 90° and, using the cylinder lenses this time, unfog the patient again till best acuity is reached.

   1975, The Journal of Optometry: An Independent Review of Visual Science