unseal

[ uhn-seel ]

verb (used with object)

1. to break or remove the seal of; open, as something sealed or firmly closed:

   to unseal a letter; to unseal a tomb.

2. to free from constraint, as a person's thought, speech, or behavior:

   Their friendship unsealed her vivacity.

unseal

/ ʌnˈsiːl /

verb

1. to remove or break the seal of
2. to reveal or free (something concealed or closed as if sealed)

   to unseal one's lips

Derived Forms

• unˈsealable, adjective

Other Words From

• un·seala·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of unseal¹

1375–1425; late Middle English unselen; un- ², seal ¹

Example Sentences

Charges for the Kansas City group were unsealed after all five were taken into custody.

From Washington Post

Washington’s three minority owners informed Snyder they intended to sell their roughly 40 percent stake in the team, according to court documents unsealed later.

From Washington Post

Her remarkable contributions would come to light decades after her death, when secret government files were unsealed.

From Ars Technica

Thanks to a landmark police transparency law, the city agreed to unseal the documents at issue.

From Voice of San Diego

The City Council unsealed the bids it received from interested utilities, and it turns out only SDG&E made an offer.

From Voice of San Diego

He put in the bulkhead, and I went to the port-hole to unseal it.

From Project Gutenberg

Surely this chamber, too, in the great laboratory deserves that the historian should unseal its door and explore its recesses.

From Project Gutenberg

"No matter what they say or do, no matter what methods they apply, don't unseal your lips," was his parting advice.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus in the sun-thaw is the snow unseal'd; Thus in the winds on flitting leaves was lost The Sybil's sentence.

From Project Gutenberg

She believed in him, loved him truly, and waited with maidenly patience to hear the words that would unseal her lips.

From Project Gutenberg