unbar
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to take away a bar or bars from
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to unfasten bars, locks, etc, from (a door); open
Etymology
Origin of unbar
First recorded in 1300–50, unbar is from the Middle English word unbarren. See un- 2, bar 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.
Claudius has made himself a monarch again, standing at the head of a shrieking horde of desperate peasantry who believe he can unbar the door to that heavenly place.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025
Etym., débacler, French, to unbar, to break up as a river does at the cessation of a long-continued frost.
From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir
Uncle Pullet had seen the party from the window, and made haste to unbar and unchain the front door.
From Tom and Maggie Tulliver by Eliot, George
As for the retainers, they waited for no order to unbar the gate for Mirliflor, being all eagerness to facilitate his departure.
From In Brief Authority by Anstey, F.
What humble hands unbar those gates of morn Through which the splendors of the New Day burst!
From Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole by Lowell, James Russell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
