unfold

present singular third person unfolds · participle present unfolding · participle past unfolded · past unfolded

1. transitiveTo undo a folding.

   to unfold a map; to unfold a tablecloth; She unpacks the new dress and unfolds it carefully.

   2 more examples

   Unfold thy forehead gathered into frowns.

   [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC

   Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

2. intransitiveTo become unfolded.

   The curtains unfolded to reveal the stage.

3. intransitiveTo turn out; to happen; to develop.

   Events unfolded in an unexpected way.

   2 more examples

   Memento unfolds over 22 scenes—or, more accurately, 22 strands of time, the main strand (in color) moving backward in increments, and another strand (in black and white) going forward, though the two overlap profoundly.

   2012 November 8, Scott Tobias, “Memento’s puzzle structure hides big twists and bigger profundities”, in The AV Club

   The protests in Brazil are unfolding just as its long and heralded economic boom may be coming to an end.

   2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in The New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013

4. transitiveTo lay open to view or contemplation; to bring out in all the details, or by successive development; to reveal.

   to unfold one's designs; to unfold the principles of a science

   2 more examples

   Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]

   Unfold the passion of my love.

   c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]

   Synonyms: expose

5. transitivecomputingTo reassemble a line of text that was split across multiple lines.

   Antonyms: fold

plural unfolds

1. computingIn functional programming, a kind of higher-order function that is the opposite of a fold.

present singular third person unfolds · participle present unfolding · participle past unfolded · past unfolded

1. transitiveTo release from a fold or pen.

   to unfold sheep