unlock

[uhn-lok]

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verb (used with object)

to undo the lock of (a door, chest, etc.), especially with a key.

to open or release by or as if by undoing a lock.

to open (anything firmly closed or joined): to unlock the jaws.

to lay open; disclose: to unlock the secrets of one's heart.

verb (used without object)

to become unlocked.

Origin of unlock

1350–1400; Middle English unloken; see un-², lock¹

Related formsun·lock·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for unlock

decipher, unravel, undo, unseal, jimmy, pop, unbutton, free, crack, release, liberate, unfasten, uncork, unhook, unbolt, unlatch

Examples from the Web for unlock

Contemporary Examples of unlock

Green-Wood has its own catacombs, which grounds keepers will unlock for tour groups.
Brooklyn’s Gangster Graveyard
Nina Strochlic
October 23, 2014
With my back turned, he entered the combination to unlock the door, which was fortified by more than a foot of reinforced steel.
Writing a Novel: Even Making It Up Requires Research
Ridley Pearson
July 16, 2014
Best recalls a grieving father confiding that a visit let him unlock the emotional door trapping his family in grief.
David Best Creates a Temple Made of Memories Outside San Francisco
Debra A. Klein
February 14, 2014
But there was never an easy way for the company to unlock that value, or for investors to understand precisely how much Yahoo!
Yahoo! Poised to Cash In on Initial Public Offering of China E-Commerce Giant Alibaba
William O’Connor
September 26, 2013
Did you know it is now illegal to unlock a cell phone that you have purchased from your wireless carrier?
It's Your Phone, Why Can't You Unlock It?
Ilana Glazer
February 20, 2013

Historical Examples of unlock

One thing is plain, you must either go to them, or unlock the cellar-door.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
"And that bear of a Ketch won't hurry himself to unlock them," soliloquized he.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
It was the dark chamber of her heart which God only could unlock.
The Manxman
Hall Caine
When you have felled him, get it and unlock the door; then whistle for me.
St. Martin's Summer
Rafael Sabatini
He soon heard her unlock the door, and in a moment he ran into her arms.
The Fairchild Family
Mary Martha Sherwood

British Dictionary definitions for unlock

unlock

verb

(tr) to unfasten (a lock, door, etc)

(tr) to open, release, or let loose

(tr) to disclose or provide the key tounlock a puzzle

(intr) to become unlocked

Derived Formsunlockable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unlock

c.1400, from un- (2) + lock (v.). Figurative sense is attested from 1530s. Related: Unlocked; unlocking.