unclasp
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to become unclasped, as the hands or arms.
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to release or relax the grasp.
verb
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(tr) to unfasten the clasp of (something)
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to release one's grip (upon an object)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unclaspsimple
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unclaspssimple
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have unclaspedperfect
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has unclaspedperfect
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am unclaspingprogressive
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are unclaspingprogressive
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is unclaspingprogressive
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have been unclaspingperfect progressive
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has been unclaspingperfect progressive
Past
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unclaspedsimple
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had unclaspedperfect
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was unclaspingprogressive
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were unclaspingprogressive
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had been unclaspingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unclasp
Explanation
When you unclasp something, you open a fastening or loosen a grip. You should unclasp your gold locket and leave it someplace safe before you go surfing. Undo a clasp, a fastener or small lock, and you unclasp it. So you might unclasp your seatbelt once the plane has landed, or unclasp your bracelet so that your best friend can try it on. You can also undo another kind of clasp — a hug, hold, or embrace: "I missed her so much that I didn't ever want to unclasp my fingers from hers once she came home."
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:
Harriet's sister, Caroline, and her friend Debbie, had managed to unclasp each other's seatbelts and get out of the plane, Harriet explained.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2021
It is all his handlers can do to get him to unclasp his hands.
From Time Magazine Archive
This time he was told that he would not be able to unclasp his hands until the psychiatrist touched his head.
From Time Magazine Archive
Alex took off his other glove, then fumbled around trying to unclasp the cross he always wore around his neck.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Finally, I unclasp them and try to examine them on the down low.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
And that famous shot of Hans falling to his death from an upper floor after McClane unclasps the watch from his wife’s wrist?
From The Guardian ● Jul. 12, 2018
"Bruiser" Frank Brody, mid-30s, preparing to wrestle, unclasps his black hair from a ponytail, douses it under a tap and lets it hang limp and long about his huge shoulders.
From Time Magazine Archive
She unclasps the long silver chain that hangs around her neck, checking the time on the pocket watch that hangs from it before she holds it up in front of Poppet’s eyes.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
From the saddle, he unclasps a leather sack, stuffs something into his pocket.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
His hand trembles as he slowly unclasps and pries off his visor.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Nurses removed his USC jersey, unclasped his USC watch, slipped off his USC shoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2023
The green uniformed guard at Club CotonTchad’s gate did his own double take at me when I dismounted my bicycle and unclasped my helmet.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 14, 2018
Two people unclasped their hands to allow Beth and me to join.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 12, 2018
The catalogue librarian, John Myers, unclasped the book’s old cover and sat down to see what was inside.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2018
He unclasped his hands and looked at me, his expression sad and weary.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
Sadia is nervous as she speaks, clasping and unclasping her hands, breaking down and re-composing herself.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2015
Before unclasping the velvet rope from its bollard and suffering to admit us, she issues a command with clipped command and a regal undersigh of exasperation: “Tuck your shirts in, boys.”
From Slate ● Jan. 22, 2014
His hands, gently clasping and unclasping as he stood before the crowd, had about them the same pink and cherished look that made his face glow with majestic infancy.
From Time Magazine Archive
Waiting anxiously and alone in the main committee room, Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald, sponsor and President of the Conference, paced up and down, clasping and unclasping his slightly rheumatic knuckles.
From Time Magazine Archive
When I reached home I found my mother pacing mechanically about the shack, murmuring helplessly, desperately, uncontrollably, clasping and unclasping her hands.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
