uncoil
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of uncoil
Explanation
To uncoil is to straighten something out that's been curled or twisted, the way you uncoil a long, thin piece of red licorice, chewing it as you go. When something is coiled, it's wound or curled into a spiral shape. You can even call it a coil, like a coil of rope on the deck of a sailboat. Make it straight by untwisting it, and you uncoil it: "Leave my snake alone! Don't try to uncoil her!" The prefix un- means "reverse or opposite of," and coil, "gather into rings," comes from a root meaning "to gather or collect."
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.
There is fundamental pent-up demand for home improvement that should uncoil as housing turnover improves.
From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026
Slamming her feet down on the springboard, Biles compresses the springs that then uncoil and transfer energy back into her body as she reaches up and backward for the vault table.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2024
Had I said, "I love you"? I will never be able to uncoil that memory from my brain.
From Salon • May 2, 2023
As they are beaten, the proteins in egg whites uncoil, trapping air in tiny bubbles.
From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2022
Volkheimer returns carrying a clattering raft of buckets; two other seniors uncoil a water hose across the quadrangle.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
