unlatch
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unlatchsimple
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unlatchessimple
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have unlatchedperfect
-
has unlatchedperfect
-
am unlatchingprogressive
-
are unlatchingprogressive
-
is unlatchingprogressive
-
have been unlatchingperfect progressive
-
has been unlatchingperfect progressive
Past
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unlatchedsimple
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had unlatchedperfect
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was unlatchingprogressive
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were unlatchingprogressive
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had been unlatchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unlatch
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:
Tesla is facing a fresh investigation from U.S. automotive-safety regulators over concerns that it may be difficult to unlatch the doors of some Model 3 sedans in the case of an emergency.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 24, 2025
She wouldn’t unlatch the lock, saying he needed to face them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2025
During the workweek, regulars slide in to occupy one of 10 seats at the bar at Lynn’s Motel on State Route 115 in Effort almost as soon as the doors unlatch at 4 p.m.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
"If you open this door and unlatch this thing and you slide this over, you'd look down in there and in between a bunch of nails you'd find my name," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2020
“The cages open the same way as yours,” said another mouse, “but we can’t reach far enough to unlatch them.”
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
Even without a stage, that is theater: a performance that unlatches the mind.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2021
At that moment, I grabbed the girl around the torso and pulled her away from the cage and it unlatches from her claw.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2019
She unlatches her purse, clutches his slippers, slides them into the dark can, hides them between bags of trash.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2013
Dr. Martin unlatches a cage near the back gate.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
He rings #2 and a returning buzz echoes from inside and the door unlatches.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Tesla is recalling some 2021-2024 Model 3, Model S, Model X and 2020-2024 Model Y vehicles because the cars may fail to detect an unlatched hood after it has been opened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
Tesla has issued a software update for more than 1.8 million vehicles in the US to fix a faulty notification system for unlatched bonnets, also known as hoods in the US.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2024
It then entered a classroom by opening a door that happened to be unlatched and jumped onto a bookshelf, scattering some items — but it didn’t cause any major damage.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
Just before he hit the water, he unlatched the top of the vehicle, enabling him to pull himself out and swim to shore.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
I crossed a high hibiscus hedge through an unlatched gate and came upon a muddy backyard, strewn with logs and stumps like a carpenter's yard.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
An "extremely intelligent" bear that injured four people in northern Japan remains at large as of Friday, after apparently unlatching a window while evading capture and turning on a water tap, officials said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Activists “liberated” captive mink as they have for years, sneaking onto mink farms in Utah and Idaho and unlatching the cages of 2,000 mink, who fled into the moonlight.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2022
The crew undocked from the station on schedule, first retracting cables that supplied power from the space station, then unlatching 12 hooks that had held the two together for more than two months.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2020
Then he heard a sound no paramedic ever wants to hear: the click of a patient’s shoulder harness unlatching.
From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2015
I rose to help, unlatching the gate for them.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
