Unravel
verb
To undo or separate something that is tangled or knotted.
She managed to unravel the bundle of threads.
Often appears as...
- unravel the mystery
- unravel a knot
verb
To discover the solution or answer to a problem or mystery.
The detective was able to unravel the case quickly.
Often appears as...
- unravel a mystery
- unravel a secret
verb
To gradually fail or collapse.
Their plans started to unravel when they couldn't get a loan.
Often appears as...
- unravel plan
- unravel strategy
verb
To undo or separate something that is tangled or knotted.
She managed to unravel the bundle of threads.
Often appears as...
- unravel the mystery
- unravel a knot
verb
To discover the solution or answer to a problem or mystery.
The detective was able to unravel the case quickly.
Often appears as...
- unravel a mystery
- unravel a secret
verb
To gradually fail or collapse.
Their plans started to unravel when they couldn't get a loan.
Often appears as...
- unravel plan
- unravel strategy
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Action
Used when referring to the literal act of separating twisted items.
She carefully unraveled the tangled necklace.
Pro Tip 2/3Slow Process
Often suggests a slow, careful process of detangling or solving something.
With patience, he unraveled the knot in the rope.
Pro Tip 3/3Satisfying Resolution
Can convey a sense of satisfaction when something complex is made clear.
It felt good to finally unravel the intricacies of the knitting pattern.
Compare with
decipherdecodabledisentangleseparatesolvetanglewind
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Video examples
How exposing anonymous...
like opening bank accounts, buying and owning assets, and transferring money. What's more, it can be listed as the owner of other companies, including ones opened in places with stricter disclosure rules. This allows someone to create a complex world-wide chain of ownership that can take years to unravel.
Video examples
Stuart Firestein: The...
the way you unravel the peels of an onion. So peel by peel, you take away the layers of the onion to get at some fundamental kernel of truth. I don't think that's the way it works either. Another one, a kind of popular one, is the iceberg idea, that we only see the tip of the iceberg but underneath
Video examples
Photography as...
I think basketball is a true art form. It's fluidity. It's almost like watching a ballet in a way, something beautiful. The arts, you're happy watching it unravel right in front of you. And life is that way. It's not a spectator sport, right? You have to go out there.
Video examples
Are food preservatives...
fungi and bacteria could run rampant in food. So we found ways to create an inhospitable environment for microbes. For example, making the food more acidic unravels enzymes that microbes need to survive. And some types of bacteria can actually help.
Video examples
Hawking's black hole...
and just as often, they’ve reshaped our understanding of the world. Today, one of the biggest paradoxes in the universe threatens to unravel the fields of general relativity and quantum the black hole information paradox. To understand this paradox,
Video examples
Why is biodiversity so...
that one species gap in the weave won't cause it to unravel. The forest can stay resilient and recover from change. But that's not true in every case. In some environments, taking away just one important component can undermine the entire system.
Video examples
The hidden worlds within...
you'd find windows into amazing worlds. This maze of halls and laboratories is a scientific sanctuary that houses a seemingly endless variety of specimens. Here, researchers work to unravel mysteries of evolution, cosmic origins,
Video examples
Love doesn’t need labels...
very blessed and honored indeed that this started unraveling for me I feel that if we keep questioning if I keep questioning I will learn more about myself learn more about my partners learn more about the worlds experience
Video examples
What is the coldest...
and become a rare new state of matter. So as researchers continue in their quest to understand the laws of physics and unravel the mysteries of the universe, they’ll do so with the help of the very coldest atoms in it.
Video examples
Why Dogs Stick Their...
they use it to unravel stories about the world around the bush predictably most are about food forty times more of their brain than
Video examples
How exposing anonymous...
like opening bank accounts, buying and owning assets, and transferring money. What's more, it can be listed as the owner of other companies, including ones opened in places with stricter disclosure rules. This allows someone to create a complex world-wide chain of ownership that can take years to unravel.
Video examples
Stuart Firestein: The...
the way you unravel the peels of an onion. So peel by peel, you take away the layers of the onion to get at some fundamental kernel of truth. I don't think that's the way it works either. Another one, a kind of popular one, is the iceberg idea, that we only see the tip of the iceberg but underneath
Video examples
Photography as...
I think basketball is a true art form. It's fluidity. It's almost like watching a ballet in a way, something beautiful. The arts, you're happy watching it unravel right in front of you. And life is that way. It's not a spectator sport, right? You have to go out there.
Video examples
Are food preservatives...
fungi and bacteria could run rampant in food. So we found ways to create an inhospitable environment for microbes. For example, making the food more acidic unravels enzymes that microbes need to survive. And some types of bacteria can actually help.
Video examples
Hawking's black hole...
and just as often, they’ve reshaped our understanding of the world. Today, one of the biggest paradoxes in the universe threatens to unravel the fields of general relativity and quantum the black hole information paradox. To understand this paradox,
Video examples
Why is biodiversity so...
that one species gap in the weave won't cause it to unravel. The forest can stay resilient and recover from change. But that's not true in every case. In some environments, taking away just one important component can undermine the entire system.
Video examples
The hidden worlds within...
you'd find windows into amazing worlds. This maze of halls and laboratories is a scientific sanctuary that houses a seemingly endless variety of specimens. Here, researchers work to unravel mysteries of evolution, cosmic origins,
Video examples
Love doesn’t need labels...
very blessed and honored indeed that this started unraveling for me I feel that if we keep questioning if I keep questioning I will learn more about myself learn more about my partners learn more about the worlds experience
Video examples
What is the coldest...
and become a rare new state of matter. So as researchers continue in their quest to understand the laws of physics and unravel the mysteries of the universe, they’ll do so with the help of the very coldest atoms in it.
Video examples
Why Dogs Stick Their...
they use it to unravel stories about the world around the bush predictably most are about food forty times more of their brain than
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Letitia Baldrige
American Writer
For every step forward in electronic communications, we've taken two steps back in humanity. People know how to use a computer and answering machines but have forgotten how to connect with one another. Our society is unraveling. We're too self-obsessed.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Warren
American Public Servant
When people feel like, 'Lenders weren't fair with me; I don't have any responsibility to be fair with them.' If we go far enough down that line, much of the fabric of our economy starts to unravel.
Quote examples
John M. Grunsfeld
American Astronaut
I look forward to working with the NASA team to help enable new discoveries in our quest to understand our home planet and unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Quote examples
Aaron Klug
British Physicist
Human curiosity, the urge to know, is a powerful force and is perhaps the best secret weapon of all in the struggle to unravel the workings of the natural world.
Quote examples
Douglas Coupland
Canadian Author
When we constantly ask for miracles, we're unraveling the fabric of the world. A world of continuous miracles would not be a world, it would be a cartoon.
Quote examples
William Ellery Channing
American Writer
He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and you will see the effect when the weaving of a life-time is unraveled.
Quote examples
James F. Amos
American General
You just look at the world, and you see things unraveling, and you say, 'I wonder what we ought to do?' Things are seldom crystal clear.
Quote examples
Evan Goldberg
Canadian Producer
I don't fully understand my wife's emotions - and I'm supposed to write an excellent female character and unravel the secret of women?
Quote examples
Jill Lepore
American Historian
Doctor Who' is, unavoidably, a product of mid-twentieth-century debates about Britain's role in the world as its empire unravelled.
Quote examples
Shania Twain
Canadian Musician
Life unravels the way it does, and it has an effect on you, but you have to take responsibility for dealing with it.
Quote examples
Letitia Baldrige
American Writer
For every step forward in electronic communications, we've taken two steps back in humanity. People know how to use a computer and answering machines but have forgotten how to connect with one another. Our society is unraveling. We're too self-obsessed.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Warren
American Public Servant
When people feel like, 'Lenders weren't fair with me; I don't have any responsibility to be fair with them.' If we go far enough down that line, much of the fabric of our economy starts to unravel.
Quote examples
John M. Grunsfeld
American Astronaut
I look forward to working with the NASA team to help enable new discoveries in our quest to understand our home planet and unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Quote examples
Aaron Klug
British Physicist
Human curiosity, the urge to know, is a powerful force and is perhaps the best secret weapon of all in the struggle to unravel the workings of the natural world.
Quote examples
Douglas Coupland
Canadian Author
When we constantly ask for miracles, we're unraveling the fabric of the world. A world of continuous miracles would not be a world, it would be a cartoon.
Quote examples
William Ellery Channing
American Writer
He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and you will see the effect when the weaving of a life-time is unraveled.
Quote examples
James F. Amos
American General
You just look at the world, and you see things unraveling, and you say, 'I wonder what we ought to do?' Things are seldom crystal clear.
Quote examples
Evan Goldberg
Canadian Producer
I don't fully understand my wife's emotions - and I'm supposed to write an excellent female character and unravel the secret of women?
Quote examples
Jill Lepore
American Historian
Doctor Who' is, unavoidably, a product of mid-twentieth-century debates about Britain's role in the world as its empire unravelled.
Quote examples
Shania Twain
Canadian Musician
Life unravels the way it does, and it has an effect on you, but you have to take responsibility for dealing with it.
Example 1 of 10
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