unleash
Americanverb (used with object)
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to release from or as if from a leash; set loose to pursue or run at will.
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to abandon control of.
to unleash his fury.
verb
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to release from or as if from a leash
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to free from restraint or control
Etymology
Origin of unleash
Explanation
When you remove your dog's leash so she can run wildly across the beach, you unleash her — you set her loose. And when you unleash a storm of insults against your brother, you allow them to flow freely from your lips. There are two ways to use the verb unleash. Literally, it means "set loose," like when a police officer unleashes her trained dog to sniff luggage for illegal drugs, or a farmer unleashes her llama after moving it into a pen. Figuratively, you can unleash all kinds of emotions, forces, opinions, and actions. Unhappy citizens might unleash a series of high-profile protests, or a barrage of shouted demands, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing unleash
myPerspectives 8.4
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Across So Many Seas
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Vocabulary from Readings 5, Unit 2
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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.
Ukraine's delicate ballad Ridnym includes a breathtaking 30-second-long high note; while Serbian band Lavina unleash a blood-curdling scream at the end of their metalcore ballad, Kraj Mene.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Critics built a website that argued, among other things, that the project would unleash dangerous electromagnetic radiation.
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026
That should eventually unleash new stock market highs.
From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026
Dario Amodei and top Trump administration officials on Friday discussed how to responsibly unleash the company’s powerful new AI model, in one of the Anthropic CEO’s highest-profile efforts to ease tensions with the government.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026
Inside the auditorium Fuller found a seething crowd, impatient to unleash its fury in a march on downtown Durham.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
