unreel

[uhn-reel]

verb (used with object)

1. to unwind from or as if from a reel.

   to unreel some wire; to unreel a tangled skein.

verb (used without object)

1. to become unreeled.

Other Word Forms

• unreelable adjective
• unreeler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unreel¹

First recorded in 1560–70; un- ² + reel ¹

Example Sentences

“I began living the movie as it unreeled.”

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The stark numbers and bare-bones accounts that unreel in her hand are just the start; her staff will catalog them, investigate them — and try to bring the Russian perpetrators of war crimes to justice.

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From her base in Chicago, she unreeled an array of stories about the triumphs and tragedies of people both ordinary and extraordinary.

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This time, the action unreels not in an East German dacha but in a London hospital.

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A moment of silence unreeled as they contemplated their situation.

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Related Words

• loosen 
• unfurl 
• unravel