unbind

American  

[uhn-bahynd] / ʌnˈbaɪnd /

verb (used with object)

unbound, unbinding

1. to release from bonds or restraint, as a prisoner; free.

2. to unfasten or loose, as a bond or tie.

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unbind British  

/ ʌnˈbaɪnd /

verb

1. to set free from restraining bonds or chains; release

2. to unfasten or make loose (a bond, tie, etc)

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Etymology

Origin of unbind

before 950; Middle English unbinden, Old English unbindan; cognate with German entbinden. See un- ², bind

Explanation

To unbind is to release someone or something that's tied up. In a fantasy novel, the heroine might unbind the prisoners of the evil ogre and rescue them from his terrifying lair. The verb bind means to secure or fasten something using rope or another kind of restraint. Unbind is the opposite (you can tell from the "reverse" prefix un-). The famous magician and escape artist Harry Houdini managed to unbind himself in many unlikely situations — underwater, in a straitjacket, and buried in the ground, among others.

Example Sentences

The goal is to “create a situation where no one can unbind their ties,” said Narushige Michishita, a professor of international relations at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2024

I am trying to unbind the knots of power that still have effects in the present.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2022

Once released, the acetylcholine stays in the cleft and can continually bind and unbind to postsynaptic receptors.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

At higher temperatures, these vortices unbind and move away from each other, and are eventually destroyed by the system’s entropy.

From Nature • May 1, 2019

Then they rested and slept without fear upon the ground; for their guides would not permit them to unbind their eyes, and they could not climb.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien