unseal
Americanverb (used with object)
-
unseals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unsealed,
past participle, past
-
unsealing
present participle
-
to break or remove the seal of; open, as something sealed or firmly closed.
to unseal a letter; to unseal a tomb.
-
to free from constraint, as a person's thought, speech, or behavior.
Their friendship unsealed her vivacity.
verb
-
to remove or break the seal of
-
to reveal or free (something concealed or closed as if sealed)
to unseal one's lips
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unsealsimple
-
unsealssimple
-
have unsealedperfect
-
has unsealedperfect
-
am unsealingprogressive
-
are unsealingprogressive
-
is unsealingprogressive
-
have been unsealingperfect progressive
-
has been unsealingperfect progressive
Past
-
unsealedsimple
-
had unsealedperfect
-
was unsealingprogressive
-
were unsealingprogressive
-
had been unsealingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unseal
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:
It urged legal changes and funding to help municipalities and cities unseal paved surfaces that store heat and to plant vastly more trees.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Berman must approve requests to unseal documents from the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
In order to unseal the Epstein documents, Congress was waiting for one last signature to put the matter to a vote.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2025
They have pledged to keep up the pressure to release the documents, hold people accountable and force representatives to sign a discharge petition that would require the Justice Department to unseal the files.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2025
First he needed to unseal with the wheel, then he needed to yank the handle.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
His attorney, Stacey Hegge, argued that Sanford should be able to inspect and participate in redacting the affidavits before the circuit court unseals them, to avoid any disclosure of trade secrets.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
Justice Department unseals charges against Huawei, Meng and several of the companies’ subsidiaries, alleging not only violation of trade sanctions but also the theft of trade secrets.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 29, 2019
September 2005: A judge unseals the Philadelphia grand jury report.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 14, 2018
He pledged Thursday not to release the alleged victims’ names or identifying information if he unseals the records.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 9, 2016
He shows them the envelope, unseals it with a letter opener, and pulls out five typewritten pages.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Albertsons is accusing Kroger leaders of making “lowball offers” to federal regulators to largely keep the most-profitable stores in the combined company, and hive off the weaker-performing ones, according to a court filing unsealed Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Two weeks ago, Mendonca unsealed a police report linked to the Vorcaro investigation.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
When court documents were unsealed last month it also emerged books were being destroyed in the process of training Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Among those charged in the newly unsealed indictment is Cameron Lockett, 23, a.k.a.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Mamou popped the lid and unsealed the tea.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Fulton County officials filed a lawsuit demanding their return and District Judge JP Boulee, a Trump nominee, ordered the unsealing on Tuesday of the search warrant affidavit used to justify the seizure.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
Similar unsealing requests, citing the new law, are pending before the two federal judges in New York who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for crimes tied to Epstein, opposed unsealing the materials.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
In its petition, the DOJ cites the “public’s strong interest” as one reason for unsealing the grand jury transcripts from West Palm Beach in 2005 and 2007.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2025
She had taught him all her lore in herbals and healing, and all she knew of the crafts of finding, binding, mending, unsealing and revealing.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
