Synonyms

unhook

American

[uhn-hook] / ʌnˈhʊk /

verb (used with object)

to detach by or as if by releasing a hook.

to unhook a tractor from a trailer.
to unfasten or open by undoing a hook or hooks.

to unhook a door; to unhook a corset.

verb (used without object)

to become unhooked.

unhook British

/ ʌnˈhʊk /

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of unhook

First recorded in 1605–15; un- ² + hook ¹

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.

Unhook a Bird Uninten-tionally hooking up with a seagull can be downright humiliating or even frightening to some anglers.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Unhook me!" said Capitola, tilting up the glass lest the child should see what horrors were reflected there.

From Hidden Hand by Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte

"Unhook 'em and let 'em go, or they'll drag cart and all in."

From The Pike's Peak Rush Terry in the New Gold Fields by Sabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand)

Unhook, un-hook′, v.t. to loose from a hook.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Unhook me, Mademoiselle, and then run off and go to bed.

From A Poor Wise Man by Rinehart, Mary Roberts

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023