unclog
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unclogsimple
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unclogssimple
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have uncloggedperfect
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has uncloggedperfect
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am uncloggingprogressive
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are uncloggingprogressive
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is uncloggingprogressive
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have been uncloggingperfect progressive
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has been uncloggingperfect progressive
Past
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uncloggedsimple
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had uncloggedperfect
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was uncloggingprogressive
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were uncloggingprogressive
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had been uncloggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unclog
Explanation
When you clear a blockage or obstacle, you unclog. If water's not going down the drain in your sink, you need to unclog it — or hire a plumber. To unclog is to remove a clog, or physical obstruction. A huge part of a plumber's job is to unclog drains, removing hair or whatever else has accumulated there. Some people recommend that you unclog the pores on your face of dirt by vigorous cleaning, to avoid getting pimples. You might also notice city planners advocating for new traffic signals or roundabouts in order to unclog the streets.
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:
Speaking at the Urdd Eisteddfod on Anglesey on Wednesday, ap Iorwerth said it had been Plaid policy for "many, many years" that something needed to be done to "unclog that Brynglas bottleneck".
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
No amount of interest-rate adjustment can refine undelivered oil, unclog ports, or conjure new productivity.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
But years passed without the dramatic reforms needed to reshape and unclog the legal pathways to U.S. citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
While I can’t come to your home to unclog your pipes, I can offer you help with your plumbing dilemmas online.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
Within minutes, Miele was on a table in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, awaiting angioplasty to unclog his artery—a procedure that many cardiologists say has become the gold standard in heart attack treatment.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
An Allure 2021 Best of Beauty Winner for Best Peel, this locally developed formula uses AHA to smooth wrinkles and refine the skin’s texture, while BHA unclogs and decongests enlarged pores.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2021
It unclogs the accumulated ick around the ethics of self-promotion, only to reveal a digital self that’s even shinier.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 19, 2019
She fantasizes about someday leading a spin class, but mostly unclogs toilets.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2014
Tiny balloon unclogs heart blood vessels Stricken with the suffocating, spasmodic chest pains of severe angina, Robert, a 47-year-old chauffeur, recently entered Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even a brief rest interrupts this strain; it unclogs the wheels of action.
From A Practical Physiology by Blaisdell, Albert F.
What’s more, many unclogged wells leak methane, a planet-warming gas that is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2024
Touch up paint where it’s needed, make sure all your drains are unclogged, and check that all light bulbs are working and in good shape.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2023
She adds regularly cleansing your skin ensures you can minimise your risk of having breakouts, as you are avoiding product build up and keeping your pores unclogged.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2022
Even with rate hikes, she said, inflation will remain high for much of the year, though it should moderate as supply chains get unclogged and once the latest surge in COVID-19 subsides.
From Reuters ● Jan. 13, 2022
He has noticed that Lincoln is visibly more comfortable when the wound is unclogged.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Even if the strait reopens to commercial traffic, unclogging it will take weeks if not months, analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Others said those worries could be eased by unclogging a bottleneck that's preventing clean energy projects from connecting to the grid.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 12, 2023
The White House has touted the success of this effort at unclogging ports, resolving shipping container shortages and unloading shipments from boats more quickly heading into the recent winter holidays.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
And not just nauseated, but the kind of sickness where you’re unable to get up from the toilet and have to throw up in your sink and then spend the whole day unclogging that sink.
From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2023
In the morning Gaston, unclogging one eye, perceived that his enemy had gone.
From The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
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.
