unfold

American  

[uhn-fohld] / ʌnˈfoʊld /

verb (used with object)

1. to bring out of a folded state; spread or open out.

   Unfold your arms.

2. to spread out or lay open to view.

3. to reveal or display.

4. to reveal or disclose in words, especially by careful or systematic exposition; set forth; explain.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to become unfolded; open.

2. to develop.

3. to become clear, apparent, or known.

   The protagonist's character unfolds as the story reaches its climax.

unfold British  

/ ʌnˈfəʊld /

verb

1. to open or spread out or be opened or spread out from a folded state

2. to reveal or be revealed

   the truth unfolds

3. to develop or expand or be developed or expanded

---

Other Word Forms

• unfoldable adjective
• unfolder noun
• unfoldment noun

Etymology

Origin of unfold

before 900; Middle English unfolden, Old English unfealdan; cognate with German entfalten. See un- ², fold ¹

Example Sentences

Clunes will portray the Bridgend-born newsreader in the series by television channel 5, which says it will recount how the scandal unfolded and feature interviews from those who first reported the story.

From BBC

Here’s how our 24 hours of controlled chaos unfolded.

From The Wall Street Journal

Since then, though, only Hearts have beaten them in the Premiership, with the Glasgow side's under-the-radar run propelling them into title contention with almost half of the campaign to unfold.

From BBC

For a U.S. intervention like the one currently unfolding, “we would see the impacts through two different channels,” he added.

From MarketWatch

Snoop will join NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico in Italy in February, riffing on stories that unfold at the Winter Games the way he did at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• illustrate
• resolve
• reveal
• solve
• unravel