ravel
verb (used with object)
to disentangle or unravel the threads or fibers of (a woven or knitted fabric, rope, etc.).
ravelled
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past participleof ravel.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof ravel.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
ravelverb (used with object)to disentangle or unravel the threads or fibers of (a woven or knitted fabric, rope, etc.).
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.
First, dreams knit up the ravelled sleeve of care by allowing us to process unhappy or traumatic experiences.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018
His simplicity is intact; the threads of his brown cloak haven’t been ravelled.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 22, 2015
This week China's Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek, who is used to getting along very well on a ravelled shoestring, arrived in India for conversations which may be historic with the Viceroy and military commanders.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some looked at him as they passed, at the man sitting quietly behind the wheel of a small car, with his invisible life ravelled out about him like a wornout sock, and went on.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
Our mothers’ silk stockings, of ante-bellum date, were ravelled with patience and transformed into the prettiest of neat-fitting gloves.
From The Women of the Confederacy by J. L. Underwood
