unstop
Americanverb (used with object)
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to remove the stopper from.
to unstop a bottle.
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to free from any obstruction; open.
to unstop a sewer.
-
to draw out the stops of (an organ).
verb
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to remove the stop or stopper from
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to free from any stoppage or obstruction; open
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to draw out the stops on (an organ)
Etymology
Origin of unstop
First recorded in 1350–1400, unstop is from the Middle English word unstoppen. See un- 2, stop
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:
Will we unstop our ears and learn from the mistakes of the past?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2022
Mitchell's curiosity, his readiness to be interested, seems to unstop his subjects: the genie of their speech pours out.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 22, 2012
This week the FCC is going to unstop the bottleneck that has made calling internationally the only exorbitantly priced relic in the telephone system.
From Time Magazine Archive
"One flute will serve only to unstop your ears and dissolve the caul from off your eyes, so that you may hear and see the truths that will be laid before you."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Back to the kitchen I tore for a draught from the bucket on the shelf—for something that would unstop my windpipe.
From A Maid of the Kentucky Hills by Litsey, Edwin Carlile
The infernal machine will continue largely unstopped because there is a huge market for its poison.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2023
Gaterud, on her farm deep in the mountains of Humboldt County, said she feels betrayed by California and angry that she suffers while those flouting the law go unstopped.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2022
If the abnormal cells continue to divide unstopped, they can damage the tissues around them, spread to other parts of the body, and eventually result in death.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
When he comes to the cascading Shakespearean poetic arias, Burton is a Welsh singer of unstopped breath and unconfined eloquence.
From Time Magazine Archive
Leaks unstopped, broken windows unrepaired, and vermin unrestrained, soon make them unfit for habitation.
From Usury A Scriptural, Ethical and Economic View by Elliott, Calvin
People raced to throw life jackets out, but the unstopping wind seemed to toss the jackets back.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2018
O’Brien tumbles into her characters’ voices; the prose has a life-filled, unstopping locomotion: “her little Mini, her chariot of freedom.”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 25, 2016
Hundreds of protesters, who had promised to be a visible presence here and filled several sections of the arena, let out an elated, unstopping cheer.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2016
He realises that he is disconcerted above all by their unstopping busyness.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2013
They were heave-ho-ing, stopping and unstopping, pawling, catting, and fishing for three hours; and the sails hung from the yards all the afternoon, and were not furled until sundown.
From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry
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.
