unfog

Verb

unfog (third-person singular simple present unfogs, present participle unfogging, simple past and past participle unfogged)

1. (transitive) To remove the moisture or fog from.
   • If you get any of this on the faceplate, you won't be able to unfog your mask until you wash the silicone off the glass with soap and water.1975, Henry Ketels, Jack McDowell, Safe Skin and Scuba Diving: Adventure in the Underwater World
   • ...and it was so embarrassing and they always seem to bring the lights on immediately, and here I am with my wet glasses, and I'm trying to unfog them and get the bloodshot veins out of my eyes.1975, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, Joan Winston, Star trek lives!, page 151
2. (transitive) To free from confusion
   • Let us unfog our minds, and abide by the eternal largesse of our hearts.1918, The Bookman - Volume 46, page 713
   • Until we clarify our minds, or at least "unfog" them a little on this issue, there will be a great many related matters on which it will be difficult for us to gain perspective.1957, Adult Leadership - Volumes 6-7, page 61
3. (intransitive) To become less covered in fog or mist.
   • The meter would fog up when removed from the freezer (water vapor condensation, a natural effect), but would quickly unfog in the oven.1986, Amateur Radio - Volume 42, Issues 7-12, page 86
   • It was hot, sweaty work, and I had to pause a couple of times to let my helmet unfog.1994, Grey Rollins, Analog, page 88
4. (intransitive) To become clearer or less confused.
   • My mind was starting to unfog.1993, Martin Harry Greenberg, Crimes of passion: twenty-three tales of love and hate, →ISBN, page 31
   • What connection there could possibly be she didn't know, but somehow the moment she touched Jess Forbes's forehead and cheek, feeling the faintest tingle in her nervous fingers as she did, at that moment it was as though she sensed the confusion in her spirit beginning to unfog.1996, Michael R. Phillips, Mercy and Eagleflight, →ISBN, page 164
5. (transitive) To adjust the lenses a patient looks through in order to clarify their vision.
   • Sometimes, if vision is good and the same with each eye, I fog and unfog both eyes at once, in order to save time.1916, Charles McCormick, A System of Mature Medicine: Optics and ophthalmology, page 152
   • Using the spherical lenses, unfog the patient as above. When this is completed, rotate the cylinder cell 90° and, using the cylinder lenses this time, unfog the patient again till best acuity is reached.1975, The Journal of Optometry: An Independent Review of Visual Science