unwound
[uhn-wound]
- simple past tense and past participle of unwind.
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unwind
[uhn-wahynd]
- to undo or loosen from or as if from a coiled condition: to unwind a rolled bandage; to unwind a coiled rope.
- to reduce the tension of; relax: to unwind a person with a drink.
- to disentangle or disengage; untwist: to unwind one's legs from around the stool.
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- to become unwound.
- to become relieved of tension; relax: After work we can have a drink and unwind.
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Origin of unwind
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
loosenunravelunfurllooseslackenseparatedisentanglefreeunrollunwrapravelunbenduntwineuntwistunreeluncoilreclinequietenrestExamples from the Web for unwound
Contemporary Examples
The U.S. says Iran should suspend the 20 percent enrichment as a confidence-building measure before sanctions begin to be unwound.
The unwound are some citizens George Packer found and spent time with, people who symbolize this American nightmare.
The National Book Awards Longlist for NonfictionSeptember 18, 2013
The guarantees and bailouts the Fed put in place in 2008 and 2009 have been unwound without significant cost to the public.
And so one of the least-wanted stock positions in American history has been unwound at a tidy profit.
Special-purpose courts can be created and unwound as it suits the leader.
Historical Examples
"I have the cord," the man said, and unwound some ten feet of stout rope from his waist.
Under Wellington's CommandG. A. Henty
Hunterleys unwound his scarf and handed his coat and hat to a page-boy.
Mr. Grex of Monte CarloE. Phillips Oppenheim
She unwound the brown veil from her head and tied it about his throat.
O Pioneers!Willa Cather
He had unwound the cloak from round his arm and held it in front of him like a shield.
"Unto Caesar"Baroness Emmuska Orczy
She took the straps from them, and unwound the sheets and bathing clothes.
The Northern IronGeorge A. Birmingham
unwound
- the past tense and past participle of unwind
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unwind
- to slacken, undo, or unravel or cause to slacken, undo, or unravel
- (tr) to disentangle
- to make or become relaxedhe finds it hard to unwind after a busy day at work
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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 unwound
unwind
v.
early 14c., "to undo" (a bandage, wrapping, etc.), from un- (2) + wind (v.). Cf. Old English unwindan, Dutch ontwinden, Old High German intwindan. Refl. sense is recorded from 1740; figurative sense of "to release oneself from tensions, to relax" is recorded from 1938. Related: Unwound; unwinding.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper