UNRAVEL (unravelled, unravelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: unravelled    , unravelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unravel mean? 

• UNRAVEL (verb)
  The verb UNRAVEL has 3 senses:

1. become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of

2. disentangle

3. become undone

  Familiarity information: UNRAVEL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNRAVEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they unravel    ... he / she / it unravels   
Past simple: unraveled    / unravelled   
Past participle: unraveled    / unravelled   
-ing form: unraveling    / unravelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

unknot; unpick; unravel; unscramble; untangle

Context example:

unravel the thread

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

undo (cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect)

"Unravel" entails doing...:

disunite; divide; part; separate (force, take, or pull apart)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

ravel (tangle or complicate)

Derivation:

unraveler (a person who removes tangles; someone who takes something out of a tangled state)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Disentangle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

ravel; ravel out; unravel

Context example:

can you unravel the mystery?

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

disentangle; straighten out; unsnarl (extricate from entanglement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

ravel (tangle or complicate)

Derivation:

unraveler; unraveller (a person who removes tangles; someone who takes something out of a tangled state)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become undone

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

run; unravel

Context example:

the sweater unraveled

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

disintegrate (break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity)

Verb group:

ladder; run (come unraveled or undone as if by snagging)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

unraveller (a person who removes tangles; someone who takes something out of a tangled state)

 Context examples 

With Pakakali, we can start to unravel that extinction.

(Fossil discovery in Tanzania reveals ancient bobcat-sized carnivore, National Science Foundation)

If I give you any clue to what I am, or to what I have been, you will unravel it, I know.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But suppose it were so, we are still as far as ever from unravelling the mystery of his death.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Palmer and team unraveled a previously underappreciated molecular process that can influence mouse models of depression.

(New Method for Treating Depression, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Its origin—jealousy perhaps, or wanton cruelty—was yet to be unravelled.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Coming face-to-face with the gas giant, Juno will begin to unravel some of the greatest mysteries surrounding our solar system's largest planet, including the origin of its massive magnetosphere.

(Juno Peers Inside a Giant, NASA)

As they erode over time, the chance of unravelling increases, so the length of telomeres can be used to estimate “biological age”.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But enhancements to deep ocean drilling techniques and decreasing costs of DNA sequencing have for the first time made it possible to unravel the secrets of the underworld.

(Researchers Create New Model of Ecosystem Hidden Beneath Earth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Their pronunciation was quick, and the words they uttered, not having any apparent connection with visible objects, I was unable to discover any clue by which I could unravel the mystery of their reference.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)