unhook
Americanverb (used with object)
-
unhooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unhooked,
past participle, past
-
unhooking
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
unhooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unhooked,
past participle, past
-
unhooking
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to remove (something) from a hook
-
(tr) to unfasten the hook of (a dress, etc)
-
(intr) to become unfastened or be capable of unfastening
the dress wouldn't unhook
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unhooksimple
-
unhookssimple
-
have unhookedperfect
-
has unhookedperfect
-
am unhookingprogressive
-
are unhookingprogressive
-
is unhookingprogressive
-
have been unhookingperfect progressive
-
has been unhookingperfect progressive
Past
-
unhookedsimple
-
had unhookedperfect
-
was unhookingprogressive
-
were unhookingprogressive
-
had been unhookingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unhook
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You have to come to a meeting spot at the border, unhook all your trucks and trailers, bring in another truck to bring it in to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
While trains and trucks also transport EVs, isolating and extinguishing fires is easier as workers can unhook a rail car and a trucker can pull over, said Frazee.
From Reuters ● Jul. 27, 2023
When doctors said it was time, they signed the necessary paperwork allowing the staff to unhook him from the machines.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2019
Hector’s good looks certainly helped unhook velvet ropes as a young man.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2019
I know I shouldn’t be excited, but I unhook the AffloVest anyway, jumping up to grab it off the floor.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
He reels in the baitfish, unhooks it, rehooks it with the shark hook, and tosses the bobber, leader, and bait back out, before handing the shark rod to me.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2022
Mallory Sarver unhooks one, loosens the drawstring, reaches in and pulls out a tiny bird with a gray head, a brilliant yellow belly with black streaks and white stripes on its black wings.
From Washington Times ● May 26, 2018
He reels in both lines, unhooks the fish and transfers it to his son’s rig.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 19, 2016
The flap is connected with a unique clip that unhooks with a downward squeeze.
From Time ● May 10, 2016
The camshaft flies around the factory until a man unhooks it, attaches it to the engine block, growing eccentric now with fan blades, pipes, and spark plugs.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Truckers said they were cooking meals inside their cabs, sleeping where they unhooked their trailers to avoid overnight parking fees and waiting for rainstorms to clean their rigs rather than paying $100 for a wash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
He unhooked the trailer from the cab and drove to safety, leaving the trailer full of frozen meat on the side of the road.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
They later unhooked him from the car and put him on the ground to wait for a shuttle to take him to a processing station.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
Before the start of a news conference on Wednesday, officials unhooked their masks in quick succession, a staged gesture that deviated from past Covid-19 protocols.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
She unhooked them, then continued walking up the hill to English class.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
It can be physical work — it takes multiple people, for example, to turn a patient without unhooking any equipment.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
"I was hooking her up to the dialysis machine when the call came in. She started unhooking herself, got dressed and off she went."
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2019
It’s simply about unhooking your brain from the harmful routines it has adopted around this particular device, and hooking it to better things.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2019
“I caught some snow all the way from Ohio,” he said, while unhooking a Kia SUV from the trailer bed.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2018
Bridge went up first, unhooking the latch on a second little door at the top and pushing it open to find herself on the roof of Sherm’s house.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
