Definition of "unravel"

unravel

/ʌnˈɹævəl/

verb
third-person singular simple present unravels, present participle unravelling or (US) unraveling, simple past and past participle unravelled or (US) unraveled
1. (transitive) To separate the threads (of); disentangle.
2. (intransitive, of threads etc.) To become separated; (of something woven, knitted, etc.) to come apart.
  Quotations
  […] the burning threadsOf woven cloud unravel in pale air:
  1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound‎, London: C. & J. Ollier, act II, scene 1, page 63
  The yarn baby lasted a good month […] before Ogechi snagged its thigh on a nail and it unravelled as she continued walking […]
  2015 October 26, Lesley Nneka Arimah, “Who Will Greet You at Home”, in The New Yorker
3. (transitive, figurative) To clear from complication or difficulty; to unfold; to solve.
  Quotations
  […] he disputed best, and unravell’d the difficulties of Philosophy with most success when he was at Supper, and well warm’d with Wine.
  1683, John Dryden, “Life of Plutarch”, in Plutarchs Lives‎, volume 1, London: Jacob Tonson, page 9
  The preſent Argument is the moſt abſtracted that ever I engaged in, it ſtrains my Faculties to their higheſt Stretch; and I deſire the Reader to attend with utmoſt perpenſity; For, I now proceed to unravel this knotty Point.
  1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section IX. A Digression Concerning the Original, the Use and Improvement of Madness in a Commonwealth.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], pages 169–170
  I left Holmes seated in front of the smouldering fire, and long into the watches of the night I heard the low, melancholy wailings of his violin, and knew that he was still pondering over the strange problem which he had set himself to unravel.
  1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 5, in A Study in Scarlet‎
  Besides assisting in unravelling these two etymological conundrums, the present research also made an effort to approach a greater accuracy in presenting the original sources of borrowed words.
  2018, James Lambert, “Anglo-Indian slang in dictionaries on historical principles”, in World Englishes, volume 37, page 255
4. (transitive, figurative) To separate the connected or united parts of; to throw into disorder; to confuse.
  Quotations
  Art shall be conjured for it, and nature all unravelled.
  1679, [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, Oedipus: A Tragedy. […], London: […] R. Bentley and M. Magnes […], (please specify the page)
  Storm Charlie had raged throught [sic] the night and was unleashing further gusts on the morning that RAIL was due to inspect a vegetation management project in Kent. Bit by bit, the train timetable unravelled. A trip beginning at Bradford-on-Avon belatedly reached Bath, but that turned out to be journey's end.
  2020 June 3, Andrew Mourant, “A safer railway in a greener habitat”, in Rail, page 58
5. (intransitive, figurative) To become undone; to collapse.
  Quotations
  The great Ponzi scheme that lies behind our State pension is unravelling – as they all do eventually – because money being taken from new investors is insufficient to honour promises issued to earlier generations.
  2010 June 24, Ian Cowie, “State pension Ponzi scheme unravels with retirement at 70”, in The Telegraph

Definition of "unravel"

unravel

verb

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