unfold
/ʌnˈfəʊld/US/ʌnˈfoʊld/
unfold verb: to undo a folding.
Verb (1)
unfold (third-person singular simple present unfolds, present participle unfolding, simple past and past participle unfolded)
- To undo a folding.
- to unfold a map; to unfold a tablecloth; She unpacks the new dress and unfolds it carefully.
- Unfold thy forehead gathered into frowns.[1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis...
- To become unfolded.
- The curtains unfolded to reveal the stage.
- To turn out; to happen; to develop.
- Events unfolded in an unexpected way.
- Memento unfolds over 22 scenes—or, more accurately, 22 strands of time, the main strand (in color) moving backward in increments, and another strand (in black and white) going forward, though the two overlap profoundly.2012 November 8, Scott Tobias, “Memento’s puzzle structure hides big twists and bigger profundities”, in The AV Club
- To lay open to view or contemplation; to bring out in all the details, or by successive development; to reveal.
- to unfold one's designs; to unfold the principles of a science
- Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Synonyms:
- expose
- To reassemble a line of text that was split across multiple lines.
- Antonyms:
- fold
Noun
unfold (plural unfolds)
- In functional programming, a kind of higher-order function that is the opposite of a fold.
Verb (2)
unfold (third-person singular simple present unfolds, present participle unfolding, simple past and past participle unfolded)
unfold meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
unfold in Tamil
- விரி
unfold in Urdu
- کھلنا, پھیلنا, بتانا, کہنا, کھولنا, پھیلانا
unfold in Telugu
- To undo a folding
- మడత తీయు maḍata tīyu, మడత విప్పు maḍata vippu
unfold in Malayalam
- to unfold, show
- വിളങ്ങുക viḷaṅṅuka
More languagesFewer languages
- unfold in Kannada
- ಕೆಳರು, ತೆರೆ, ಬಿಚ್ಚು, ಹರವು
- unfold in Sanskrit
- जृम्भते jṛ́mbhate, अञ्च् añc
Examples of unfold in a sentence
- She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- The protests in Brazil are unfolding just as its long and heralded economic boom may be coming to an end.2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in The New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013:
Synonyms of unfold
Antonyms
Forms of unfold
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | unfolds |
| present participle | unfolding |
| past participle | unfolded |
| past | unfolded |
| Noun | |
| plural | unfolds |
Origin of unfold
From Middle English unfolden, from Old English unfealdan (“to unfold”), equivalent to un- + fold.
From un- + fold (“to confine into a fold or pen”).
Words formed from unfold
Words that rhyme with unfold
Questions about unfold
- What does unfold mean?
- Unfold means to undo a folding.
- What is unfold in Tamil?
- Unfold in Tamil is விரி. See Unfold meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use unfold in a sentence?
- She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
- What part of speech is unfold?
- Unfold can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce unfold?
- Unfold is pronounced /ʌnˈfoʊld/ (US).
- What is the past tense of unfold?
- The past tense of unfold is unfolded.
Words near unfold in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unfold (page history and authors); unfold (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unfold (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); വിളങ്ങുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); unfold (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अञ्च् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-unfold.wav.
Cite this entry: “unfold.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unfold. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.