ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Unwind

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ʌnˈwaɪnd/ · Part of speech verb

Quick meaning: Unwind is a verb meaning (transitive) To separate (something that is wound up).

Meaning

(transitive) To separate (something that is wound up).

More Meanings

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To disentangle
  2. (intransitive, colloquial) To relax; to chill out; to rest and become relieved of stress
  3. (intransitive) To be or become unwound; to be capable of being unwound or untwisted.
  4. (transitive, finance) To close out a position, especially a complicated position.
  5. (transitive, finance) To undo something.
  6. (transitive, programming) To navigate back through (a call stack) so as to generate a stack trace etc.
  7. (transitive, programming, software compilation) Synonym of unroll (“replace a loop with a sequence”).

Example Sentences

to unwind a ball of yarn
Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?
After work, I like to unwind by smoking a pipe while reading the paper.
If the expression is a throw, we unwind the stack seeking a handler expression.

Word Forms

Synonyms for unwind

Depending on context, synonyms include untwist, untwine, unroll, relax, decompress, unlax.

Antonyms for unwind

Common opposites include strain, wrap, tense, roll, wind.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include unroll, disentangle, unbend, unstrain, unlax, decompress.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.