unravel
/ˌʌnˈɹævəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cause (something) to no longer be ravelled or tangled; to disentangle, to untangle.
Transitive verb
verb
To separate the threads of (something knitted or woven, such as clothing or fabric).
Transitive verb
verb
To separate the connected or united parts of (something); to throw (something) into disorder; to confound, to confuse, to disintegrate.
Transitive verb
verb
To clear (something) from complication or difficulty; to investigate and solve (a mystery, a problem, etc.); to disentangle, to unfold, to work out.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Mother couldn’t unravel the ball of wool after the cat had played with it."
- "[S]he taking as the watchword of his true patience, vnraueld the bottome [i.e., ball of thread] of her frailtie at length, […]"
- "So by thine offspring may repose be found, / As thou unravelest (thus to him I pray) / The knot in which my intellect is bound."
- "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."
- "Stop playing with the seam of the tablecloth! You’ll unravel it."
- "[B]e not like her who unravelleth into strands the thread which she had strongly spun, by taking your oaths with mutual perfidy."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌʌnˈɹævəl/
- British English: /(ˌ)ʌnˈɹævəl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
unravels (present, singular)
unraveling (US, participle)
unravelling (UK, participle)
unraveled (US, participle)
unraveled (US, past)
unravelled (UK, participle)
unravelled (UK, past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
unravelled (first person, past)
unraveled (US, first person)
unravellest (archaic, present)