unsheathe
Americanverb (used with object)
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unsheathes,
present (3rd person singular)
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unsheathed,
past participle, past
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unsheathing
present participle
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to draw from a sheath, as a sword, knife, or the like.
-
to bring or put forth from a covering, threateningly or otherwise.
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unsheathesimple
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unsheathessimple
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have unsheathedperfect
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has unsheathedperfect
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am unsheathingprogressive
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are unsheathingprogressive
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is unsheathingprogressive
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have been unsheathingperfect progressive
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has been unsheathingperfect progressive
Past
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unsheathedsimple
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had unsheathedperfect
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was unsheathingprogressive
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were unsheathingprogressive
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had been unsheathingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unsheathe
1325–75; Middle English unshethen to dislodge; see un- 2, sheathe
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:
“Everybody has the sword and we all have the ability to unsheathe Excalibur now,” said Johnston, 40, who used AI to code an app that helps people get the most out of credit card benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Unveiled the same day the United Nations warned of a “code red for humanity” because of rapid climate heating, the fiscal plan would unsheathe a vast effort to move the U.S. toward clean energy.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2021
Things so peculiar, the immediate impulse is to unsheathe a camera phone.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2015
The way the knights carry on chatting to each other while they unsheathe their weaponry is really off-putting.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 16, 2011
“Fortunately you did not unsheathe it entirely,” Gwydion said to Taran.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
“Appelbaum does have an ax to grind, but unsheathes it only occasionally, usually to offer cutting one-sentence dismissals of particularly dubious claims by economists,” Justin Fox writes in his admiring review.
From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2019
Patrick Reed meanwhile unsheathes a wood and larrups his opening drive down the middle.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 19, 2019
Jaime, remembering that any knight—him, say—can make another knight, unsheathes his sword and asks Brienne to kneel.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
The ritual begins when Justin Turner unsheathes his 31.5-ounce Rawlings bat from the rack and strides through the dugout.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2016
Then in one motion, Autumn unsheathes her blade and gives the thicket an experimental tomahawk slice.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
In a flash, she springs into action, her muscles tensed and claws unsheathed.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
Head-to-toe Chanel leaves nothing to the imagination; a Chanel lipstick winks as it’s unsheathed, as if to say, “This $50 stick is just the tip of the iceberg.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
Gould found some melting pianissimos, and Goerke unsheathed a saber of sound that shone the way toward her interpretation of the whole role.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2019
That would change the second a young baseball-capped Carlile unsheathed that knee-weakening voice that’d convert unsuspecting barflies into believers.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2019
Jon unsheathed Longclaw and showed it to them, turning it this way and that so they could admire it.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Then UW diffused the drama — unsheathing a 12-play, 82-yard, six-minute and 20-second odyssey to upend Oregon.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
The trailer ends with a back view of a suited-up, black-and-gold Black Panther unsheathing their claws.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 2022
Sophisticated about media, he carefully goes off the record before unsheathing any daggers.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2017
You can transition back and forth between a gun and a shield by reaching over your shoulder, as if unsheathing a sword hung across your back.
From The Verge ● Mar. 10, 2016
Her fingers unfurled dangerously, like the slow unsheathing of claws.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
