uncork
Americanverb (used with object)
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to draw the cork from.
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Informal. to release or unveil; unleash.
to uncork one's pent-up emotions.
verb
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to draw the cork from (a bottle, etc)
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to release or unleash (emotions, etc)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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uncorksimple
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uncorkssimple
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have uncorkedperfect
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has uncorkedperfect
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am uncorkingprogressive
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are uncorkingprogressive
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is uncorkingprogressive
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have been uncorkingperfect progressive
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has been uncorkingperfect progressive
Past
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uncorkedsimple
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had uncorkedperfect
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was uncorkingprogressive
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were uncorkingprogressive
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had been uncorkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of uncork
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:
While streaming is gaining steam with advertisers, media companies shouldn’t uncork the champagne just yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
He proceeded to uncork a lifetime’s worth of Eastside memories in five minutes as we enjoyed our appetizer of macaroni soup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2024
Expanding Medicaid would uncork a spigot of about $1.35 billion a year in federal funds to hospitals and health care providers, according to a 2021 report by the office of the state economist.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
But in the Saxons’ 27-7 victory, he continued to run directly at defenders much larger than him and uncork touchdown passes with linemen closing in.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2022
“A landslide off the bulge could uncork a hot flow across the valley and up this ridge.”
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
The composer struts in during a rehearsal, uncorks an embarrassingly stagey speech about his life and views, and forbids Guthrie from putting his modern spin on the oratorio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
Picking it up from the diagram, where the unsuspecting Bauer as Black has just played 13…a7-a6, White uncorks 14.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
It shines darkly, invitingly, and only uncorks its assault of spice once you are crunching away at the firm, crisp fried shell, by which time it is too late.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2022
The climactic set-piece, involving sharp blades and swinging trapezes, has no real business working — until McKinnon uncorks a wide-eyed, show-must-go-on lunacy worthy of Lucille Ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2018
Alan sets down a garbage bag full of Amber and Clover’s old baby clothes, uncorks a bottle of cold champagne.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Evan Jones gave it a go early on from lane one - touching the wall a fraction in front of his Scotland team-mate after the fly - but then Scott uncorked the good stuff.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
While still on the move, he then uncorked a heave that hit fellow rookie Isaiah Bond in stride for a 52-yard gain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
They claim to share a sisterhood but whose dissimilar economic and social statuses rocket to the surface like freshly uncorked champagne bubbles.
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2025
The idea is simple: As the weight on the volcanoes is lifted, the gases trapped in magma are released like the fizz in an uncorked bottle of champagne, driving eruptions.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 2, 2024
I spread the lunch on a newspaper, and uncorked one of the bottles and leaned the other against a tree.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
By the end, he was holding his head high at Liu’s gold medal romp, and uncorking his back flip in the Games-ending gala.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
He’s also been wilding out on Truth Social, uncorking a series of posts that are unhinged, even for him.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2025
Corkage fees are to recoup the costs of serving the alcohol - the time spent uncorking the wine, pouring it and washing up afterwards, and sometimes bringing the wine to the right temperature as well.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024
Last year, he threw a memorable first pitch before a Guardians games, uncorking a wild toss and that bounced to the backstop.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
Ugwu went into the living room and his hands worked mechanically, serving kola nuts and alligator pepper, uncorking bottles, shoveling ice, laying out steaming bowls of pepper soup.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
