uncurl
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
uncurls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
uncurled,
past participle, past
-
uncurling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
uncurlsimple
-
uncurlssimple
-
have uncurledperfect
-
has uncurledperfect
-
am uncurlingprogressive
-
are uncurlingprogressive
-
is uncurlingprogressive
-
have been uncurlingperfect progressive
-
has been uncurlingperfect progressive
Past
-
uncurledsimple
-
had uncurledperfect
-
was uncurlingprogressive
-
were uncurlingprogressive
-
had been uncurlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of uncurl
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:
Dole eventually learned that he could grip a pen in his right fingers, a technique he used to mask the fact that he couldn’t uncurl them.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2021
Unable to uncurl from my kneeling position, I stayed there, as if at prayer.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2021
“It was amazing sitting on that bus and watching America uncurl before you.”
From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2019
Salgado’s hands began to uncurl and I brought markers and scrapbooks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2019
In the center of the track, Azucar began to uncurl his long legs and accelerate, grinding away at the lead.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The worker uncurls its claw-like fingers, daintily grips the basket by its edges and walks it over to a conveyor that will send it through an industrial washing machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
When he makes a fist, then uncurls his fingers, Athena does the same.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2021
In a rescue center, the pangolin slowly wakes and uncurls, sniffing out a nighttime feast of ants’ eggs, then lapping it up with its implausibly long tongue.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2018
His brush uncurls a reptilian ripple of paint that twines and insinuates itself into a snakepit of color.
From Time Magazine Archive
She removes her hand from her pocket and uncurls her fingers.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
In a split second, Chauhan uncurled his fingers and accepted it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2020
Compared to other farmers in his area, he said, his corn remains uncurled for longer.
From Salon ● May 10, 2019
In New York, massive banners were uncurled from atop the entrance to the Holland Tunnel declaring “Black Lives Matter” and “Fund Black Futures.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2016
The musicians curled and uncurled around Ian Hunter's snarling voice: "Oh is there concrete all around/ Or is it in my head."
From The Guardian ● Feb. 1, 2013
Then it uncurled its handles and one handle lifted its lid with exaggerated courtesy while the other helped him to a generous spoonful.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Mine involves eye contact, a short smile, a slow uncurling of the fingers, a small raise of the wrist, and a four- to five-second hold.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2020
By curling and uncurling their toes, geckos can alternate between sticking and unsticking from a surface, and thus easily move across it.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Hundreds of police officers clumped on the corners, glancing up at the smoke uncurling in the sky.
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2016
Both of us were upon her, coaxing her hands way from her face, uncurling her to reveal wet cheeks.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2014
Their fingers flew as they chatted together, the pale fibers stretching and uncurling into threads for what would become kente cloth.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
