uncurl
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
uncurls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
uncurled,
past participle, past
-
uncurling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
uncurlsimple
-
uncurlssimple
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have uncurledperfect
-
has uncurledperfect
-
am uncurlingprogressive
-
are uncurlingprogressive
-
is uncurlingprogressive
-
have been uncurlingperfect progressive
-
has been uncurlingperfect progressive
Past
-
uncurledsimple
-
had uncurledperfect
-
was uncurlingprogressive
-
were uncurlingprogressive
-
had been uncurlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of uncurl
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:
Dole eventually learned that he could grip a pen in his right fingers, a technique he used to mask the fact that he couldn’t uncurl them.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2021
Unable to uncurl from my kneeling position, I stayed there, as if at prayer.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2021
“It was amazing sitting on that bus and watching America uncurl before you.”
From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2019
The one fry that didn’t quite uncurl and left the fryer in one giant potato-y, batter-y lump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2019
After a few minutes, Otto was able to uncurl his long toes and teeter to his feet.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
The worker uncurls its claw-like fingers, daintily grips the basket by its edges and walks it over to a conveyor that will send it through an industrial washing machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
When he makes a fist, then uncurls his fingers, Athena does the same.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2021
In a rescue center, the pangolin slowly wakes and uncurls, sniffing out a nighttime feast of ants’ eggs, then lapping it up with its implausibly long tongue.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2018
His brush uncurls a reptilian ripple of paint that twines and insinuates itself into a snakepit of color.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sandi felt such tenderness as when a new mother uncurls the tiny fists of a newborn.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
In a split second, Chauhan uncurled his fingers and accepted it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2020
Compared to other farmers in his area, he said, his corn remains uncurled for longer.
From Salon ● May 10, 2019
In New York, massive banners were uncurled from atop the entrance to the Holland Tunnel declaring “Black Lives Matter” and “Fund Black Futures.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2016
The musicians curled and uncurled around Ian Hunter's snarling voice: "Oh is there concrete all around/ Or is it in my head."
From The Guardian ● Feb. 1, 2013
He uncurled himself slowly and sat up a little straighter.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
By curling and uncurling their toes, geckos can alternate between sticking and unsticking from a surface, and thus easily move across it.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Hundreds of police officers clumped on the corners, glancing up at the smoke uncurling in the sky.
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2016
Ancient Babylonians likened it to an uncurling date palm shoot.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2015
Both of us were upon her, coaxing her hands way from her face, uncurling her to reveal wet cheeks.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2014
My mom was curling and uncurling her lips like she wanted to say something.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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.
