unfold
Americanverb (used with object)
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unfolds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unfolded,
past participle, past
-
unfolding
present participle
-
to bring out of a folded state; spread or open out.
Unfold your arms.
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to spread out or lay open to view.
-
to reveal or display.
-
to reveal or disclose in words, especially by careful or systematic exposition; set forth; explain.
verb (used without object)
-
unfolds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unfolded,
past participle, past
-
unfolding
present participle
-
to become unfolded; open.
-
to develop.
-
to become clear, apparent, or known.
The protagonist's character unfolds as the story reaches its climax.
verb
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to open or spread out or be opened or spread out from a folded state
-
to reveal or be revealed
the truth unfolds
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to develop or expand or be developed or expanded
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unfoldsimple
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unfoldssimple
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have unfoldedperfect
-
has unfoldedperfect
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am unfoldingprogressive
-
are unfoldingprogressive
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is unfoldingprogressive
-
have been unfoldingperfect progressive
-
has been unfoldingperfect progressive
Past
-
unfoldedsimple
-
had unfoldedperfect
-
was unfoldingprogressive
-
were unfoldingprogressive
-
had been unfoldingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unfold
before 900; Middle English unfolden, Old English unfealdan; cognate with German entfalten. See un- 2, fold 1
Explanation
To unfold is to open or reveal, the way a small square of paper might unfold into a large map, or the way the plot of a mystery novel can unfold into a clear picture of who the killer is. Anything that's folded or compacted unfolds as it opens up and stretches out. So a yoga teacher might curl into a tight ball and then unfold his limbs, stretching them wide. Or you might unfold a tightly sealed secret note or a gently creased letter from your grandparents. Information can unfold figuratively, too, or become more open and clear: "As the details of the crime began to unfold, the detective got ready to make an arrest."
Vocabulary lists containing unfold
"Play Ball!"
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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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:
Yet our experience of the world has a clear direction: We remember the past, not the future, and events unfold in a recognizable sequence.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Watch: How will the evacuation of Oleshky unfold?
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
It began to unfold decades ago, well before Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the “end of history.”
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026
Yearning for more Holmes, the public turned its attention to Bell just in time for the Ardlamont case to unfold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
French rockets go up, which unfold a silk parachute to the air and drift slowly down.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
As Mike teams up with a few pals, a police officer and an events organizer, a funny and remarkably optimistic story of small-town resistance unfolds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
However this woeful period unfolds, it is unlikely Martinez's recklessness will be forgotten.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
The movie’s narrative turns are so self-contained that you could know every beat of the film and still be flabbergasted by how it all unfolds.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
The tool can also track how meaning shifts as a story unfolds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The more profound the thought, feeling, skill, and invention an artist puts into his or her work, the more it unfolds to an alert spectator.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
Selma Blair is apologizing following an alleged violent medical episode that unfolded on a Delta airlines flight earlier this month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
The findings also raise intriguing questions about how these early migrations unfolded.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
But the crime remains unsolved – and in a new BBC documentary series Devine tells of his guilt over the way the attack unfolded, and for the failure to catch the killers.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Yahlee said she was doing national military service when the 7 October attacks unfolded.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
When I couldn’t fold the tissue anymore, I unfolded it.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Outside the perimeter fence, daily life bears little resemblance to the military activity unfolding inside.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
A free-speech debate is unfolding at Cornell too, after the school suspended fraternity parties for the rest of the school year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Just as the organizers had hoped, the demonstration caught the attention of users on X and other social-media platforms, where some contrasted the relatively tame demonstration with the more chaotic protests unfolding in Europe.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
Even though the patients were unconscious, their brains appeared to anticipate how the language unfolding around them might continue.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
Aunt Kitty said this was no time for make-believe when we had such a dangerous case unfolding before us.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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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.
