unravel

present singular third person unravels · US participle present unraveling · UK participle present unravelling · US participle past unraveled · US past unraveled · UK participle past unravelled · UK past unravelled · first person past singular unravelled · US first person past singular unraveled · archaic present second person singular unravellest · archaic present second person singular unravelest · past second person singular unravelled · US past second person singular unraveled · archaic past second person singular unravelledst · archaic past second person singular unraveledst · present singular third person unravels

1. transitiveTo cause (something) to no longer be ravelled or tangled; to disentangle, to untangle.

   Mother couldn’t unravel the ball of wool after the cat had played with it.

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   [S]he taking as the watchword of his true patience, vnraueld the bottome [i.e., ball of thread] of her frailtie at length, […]

   1603, [Thomas Dekker], 1603. The Wonderfull Yeare. […], London: […] by [J. Browne, Nicholas Ling, and John Smethwick for?] Thomas Creede, […], →OCLC, signature E3, recto

   So by thine offspring may repose be found, / As thou unravelest (thus to him I pray) / The knot in which my intellect is bound.

   1833, Dante [Alighieri], “Canto X”, in Ichabod Charles Wright, transl., The Inferno of Dante, Translated, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman; Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: W[ilia]m Dearden, →OCLC, page 89, lines 94–96

   He was only aware that everything was over, that with a few words he had broken his life into small pieces. Too impatient to unravel the tangled knot, he had cut it, and nothing could mend it now.

   The Coming of Bill

   1914 May, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, “Cutting the Tangled Knot”, in Their Mutual Child [The Coming of Bill], New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, published 5 August 1919, →OCLC, book 2, page 213

   Synonyms: unsnarl, disentangle, feeze, tease out, unsnarl, untangle · Antonyms: ravel

2. transitiveTo separate the threads of (something knitted or woven, such as clothing or fabric).

   Stop playing with the seam of the tablecloth! You’ll unravel it.

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   [B]e not like her who unravelleth into strands the thread which she had strongly spun, by taking your oaths with mutual perfidy.

   1876, “[LXXIII.] Sura XVI.—The Bee. Mecca.—128 Verses.”, in J[ohn] M[edows] Rodwell, transl., El-Ḳor’ân; or, The Ḳorân: Translated from the Arabic, […], 2nd edition, London: Bernard Quaritch, […], →OCLC, page 213

   Synonyms: ravel · Antonyms: ravel

3. figurativelytransitiveTo separate the connected or united parts of (something); to throw (something) into disorder; to confound, to confuse, to disintegrate.

   to unravel the broad consensus which was created

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   to unravel the compromise achieved in the treaty

   VVithin fifteen dayes, aſſiſted vvith the Duke of Spoletum, Frederick recovered all vvhich vvas vvonne from him, and unravelled the fair vveb of John Brens victory, even to the very hemme thereof.

   1639, Thomas Fuller, “Frederick Battered with the Popes Force, and Undermined with His Fraud, Leaveth Palestine, and Returneth into Italy”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book IV, page 166

   Art ſhall be Conjur'd for it, / And Nature all unravel'ed.

   1679, [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, Oedipus: A Tragedy. […], London: […] R. Bentley and M. Magnes […], →OCLC, Act II, page 20

   [I]t is easier to conceive a low motive than a lofty one, and to call a man a villain, than to unravel patiently the tangled web of good and evil of which his thoughts are composed.

   1856 November, Charles Kingsley, “England from Wolsey to Elizabeth I”, in Sir Walter Raleigh and His Time, with Other Papers, author’s edition, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1859, →OCLC, page 433

   The great Ponzi scheme that lies behind our State pension is unravelling – as they all do eventually – because money being taken from new investors is insufficient to honour promises issued to earlier generations.

   2010 June 24, Ian Cowie, “State pension Ponzi scheme unravels with retirement at 70”, in Tony Gallagher, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2015

4. alsofigurativelyreflexivetransitiveTo clear (something) from complication or difficulty; to investigate and solve (a mystery, a problem, etc.); to disentangle, to unfold, to work out.

   to unravel a plot

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   to unravel the confusion

   You muſt unravell agen, and make your vvife / Beleeve you did but try her.

   1633 November 21 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), Iames Shirly [i.e., James Shirley], The Gamester. […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Andrew Crooke, and William Cooke, published 1637, →OCLC, Act I, signature [C4], recto

   See then vvith vvhat inſtruments the holy Jeſus ſets upon this great reformation of the vvorld. Tvvelve men of obſcure and poor birth, […] theſe men vvere ſent into the midſt of a knovving and vviſe vvorld […] to introduce into a nevvly ſetled Empire, vvhich vvould be impatient of novelties and change, ſuch a change as muſt deſtroy all their Temples, or remove thence all their gods: […] a Religion that vvould change the face of things, and vvould alſo pierce into the ſecrets of the ſoul, and unravel all the intrigues of hearts, and reform all evil manners, and break vile habits into gentleneſs and counſel: […]

   1660, Jeremy Taylor, “Rule 2. A Conscience that is at First, and in Its Own Nature Probable, may be Made Certain by Accumulation of Many Probabilities Operating the Same Perswasion.”, in Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in All Her General Measures; […], volume I, London: […] James Flesher, for Richard Royston […], →OCLC, book I (Of Conscience, the Kindes of It, and the General Rules of Conducting Them), paragraph 22, page 134

   [H]e [Nicarchus] diſputed beſt, and unravell'd the difficulties of Philoſophy vvith moſt ſuccess vvhen he vvas at Supper, and vvell vvarm'd vvith VVine.

   1683, John Dryden, “The Life of Plutarch”, in Plutarch, Plutarchs Lives. Translated from the Greek […], volume I, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 9

   The preſent Argument is the moſt abſtracted that ever I engaged in, it ſtrains my Faculties to their higheſt Stretch; and I deſire the Reader to attend with utmoſt perpenſity; For, I now proceed to unravel this knotty Point.

   1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section IX. A Digression Concerning the Original, the Use and Improvement of Madness in a Commonwealth.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, pages 169–170

   Synonyms: ravel, unpuzzle, unriddle, straighten out, absolve, decipher, get to the bottom of, iron out · Antonyms: ravel

5. figurativelyobsoletetransitiveTo reverse or undo (something); to annul, to negate.

   For everie time thou admitſt mee after, to thy / Pillovv, I'le ſtrike of an hundred pound, / Till all the debts be unravel'd: […]

   1634 July 4 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), Iames Shirly [i.e., James Shirley], The Example. […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Andrew Crooke, and William Cooke, published 1637, →OCLC, Act III, signature D2, recto

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   O thou cruel Son of an / Inhumane Father! all my deſigns are ruin'd / And unravell'd by this blovv. / No pleaſure novv is left in me but Revenge.

   1667 November 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), John Driden [i.e., John Dryden]; William Davenant, The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island. A Comedy. […], London: […] J. M. for Henry Herringman […], published 1670, →OCLC, Act IV, page 66

   I vviſh they vvould ſeriouſly reflect on it, and unravel that injurious mirth by a penitential ſadneſs, and either ſpend their time better then in viſiting, or elſe direct their viſits to better purpoſes: […]

   1673, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] IV. Of Affability.”, in The Ladies Calling. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theatre, →OCLC, part I, pages 79–80

   I do not find that Henry [VIII] puſhed his imitation ſo far; but though at laſt He vvofully unravelled moſt of the purſuits of his early age, […]

   1762, Horace Walpole, “Painters in the Reign of Henry VIII”, in Anecdotes of Painting in England; […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Farmer […], →OCLC, page 54

   Becauſe the canon lavv (follovving the civil) did allovv ſuch baſtard eignè to be legitimate, on the ſubſequent marriage of his mother: and therefore the lavvs of England […] paid ſuch a regard to a perſon thus peculiarly circumſtanced, that, after the land had deſcended to his iſſue, they vvould not unravel the matter again, and ſuffer his eſtate to be ſhaken.

   1766, William Blackstone, “Of Title by Purchase, and First by Escheat”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 248

6. intransitiveTo become no longer ravelled or tangled.

   Synonyms: ravel · Antonyms: ravel

7. intransitiveOf threads: to become separated from something knitted or woven, such as clothing or fabric; also, of something knitted or woven: to separate into threads; to come apart.

   [T]he burning threads / Of woven cloud unravel in pale air: […]

   1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 63

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   [C]onſider him as a King, and what favours hath he beſtowed on his Subjects! and then, that his curteſies might not unravell or fret out, hath bound them with a ſtrong border and a rich fringe, a Triennial Parliament.

   2026 November 7 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Fuller, “A Sermon Preached at the Collegiat Church of S. Peter in Westminster, on the 27. of March, being the Day of his Majesties Inauguration”, in John Eglington Bailey, William E[dward] A[rmytage] Axon, editors, The Collected Sermons of Thomas Fuller, D.D. […], volume I, London: The Gresham Press; Unwin Brothers, […]; Pickering & Chatto, […], published 1891, →OCLC, paragraph 23, page 285

   Almost everyone has a favorite doll, an aging teddy, or an unraveling blankie—either safely put away in a drawer or still lovingly tucked into bed at night. Adults and children alike treasure these creature comforts because they offer security, lifelong friendship, and the smell of home.

   2002, Barbara Collopy O'Halloran, Creature Comforts: People and Their Security Objects, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, front flap of dust jacket

   Across the aisle, she was absentmindedly fiddling with a loose piece of yarn that had unraveled from her sweater, wrapping it around her finger the same way Derek was wrapped around her finger. And she didn't even know it. Hoo-boy. She killed him.

   2005, Dallas Woodburn, 3 A.m.: A Collection of Short Stories, →ISBN

   The yarn baby lasted a good month, emitting dry, cotton-soft gurgles and pooping little balls of lint, before Ogechi snagged its thigh on a nail and it unravelled as she continued walking, mistaking its little huffs for the beginnings of hunger, not the cries of an infant being undone.

   2015 October 26, Lesley Nneka Arimah, “Who Will Greet You at Home”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 65, column 1

   Synonyms: come undone, ravel · Antonyms: ravel

8. figurativelyintransitiveOf a thing: to have its connected or united parts separated; to be thrown into disorder; to become confused or undone; to collapse.

   As if someone had cut the key string of a net, they all unravelled and disappeared—those tranquillities.

   1937, Ford Madox Ford, “[John] Galsworthy”, in Portraits from Life […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, page 129

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   [W]hen men doe not iſhue out of a danger by a doore of Gods opening unto them, but breake through the vvall, (as Jerome by perjury) by violent and unvvarrantable vvayes, their minds are daily haunted vvith ſcruples and perplexities, even ſometimes to dolefull diſtraction; beſides, ſuch eſcapes never grovv proſperous, rather eaſing than curing, and the comfort got by them unraueleth againe, as it hapned in Jerome of Prague.

   1651, Thomas Fuller, “The Life and Death of Jerom of Prague”, in Abel Redevivus: Or, The Dead Yet Speaking. The Lives and Deaths of the Moderne Divines. […], London: […] Tho[mas] Brudenell for John Stafford, […], →OCLC, page 27

   [Y]ou may be ſure his [the Antichrist's] cunning and vvicked Emiſſaries vvill unfailingly aſſiſt, actuate and manage this Schiſm above all the reſt, it making the Reformation look ſo odiouſly, ridiculouſly and dangerouſly, as if to leave the Church of Rome vvere at laſt to unravel into a mere canting Paganiſm.

   1664, H[enry] More, “[The Apology of Dr. Henry More, […].] Chapter X.”, in Synopsis Prophetica; or, The Second Part of the Modest Enquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity: […], London: […] James Flesher, for William Morden […], →OCLC, page 566

   In an Eternity, vvhat Scenes ſhall ſtrike? / Adventures thicken? Novelties ſurprize? / VVhat VVebs of VVonder ſhall unravel, there?

   1744, [Edward Young], “Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In Two Parts. Containing, the Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality. Part the First. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 9

   To be sure, 2012 marks an emphatic end to the bygone courtesy of allowing the other campaign to have its convention moment. But the traditional nicety began unraveling at least two or three election cycles ago.

   2012 August 27, Alex Mooney, “No more niceness: Obama, Romney try to rain on each other’s parade”, in CNN

   It didn't take long for New York Magazine's story on a 17-year-old stock whiz with a rumored net worth of $72 million to make a splash. But the story's juicy premise unraveled almost as quickly.

   2014 December 15, Tom Kludt, “Story of the $72 million teen trader unravels”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2024