UNHINGE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unhinge mean? 

• UNHINGE (verb)
  The verb UNHINGE has 2 senses:

1. disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed

2. remove the hinges from

  Familiarity information: UNHINGE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNHINGE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they unhinge    ... he / she / it unhinges   
Past simple: unhinged   
Past participle: unhinged   
-ing form: unhinging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

cark; disorder; disquiet; distract; perturb; trouble; unhinge

Context example:

She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill

Hypernyms (to "unhinge" is one way to...):

disturb; trouble; upset (move deeply)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "unhinge"):

vex; worry (disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will unhinge him

Sense 2

Meaning:

Remove the hinges from

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

unhinge the door

Hypernyms (to "unhinge" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

I wonder if his mind can have become in any way unhinged.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

If ever I have thought that you had done this deed—and how could I doubt the evidence of my own eyes—I have always believed that it was at a time when your mind was unhinged, and when you knew no more of what you were about than the man who is walking in his sleep.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant when he made Hamlet say:—for now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)