Word.ws English Dictionary

unmask one's batteries

unmask one's batteries verb: to begin a decisive action, especially one that reveals one’s true strength or character.

Verb

unmask one's batteries (third-person singular simple present unmasks one's batteries, present participle unmasking one's batteries, simple past and past participle unmasked one's batteries)

  1. (dated, idiomatic) To begin a decisive action, especially one that reveals one’s true strength or character.
    • “Your father is fond of surprises, as you must have seen,” Cuthbert rejoined. “He won’t unmask his batteries till all is ready for action.”1858, William Harrison Ainsworth, Mervyn Clitheroe, volume 2, page 278
    • The bishops, proud of this first victory, believed that a second would be easily won, and they unmasked their batteries.1877, J. H. Merle d’Aubigné, translated by William L. R. Cates, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, volume 7, pages 198–99
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see unmask, battery.

Forms of unmask one's batteries

third-person singular presentunmasks one's batteries
present participleunmasking one's batteries
past participleunmasked one's batteries
pastunmasked one's batteries

Origin of unmask one's batteries

From the revealing of artillery previously concealed from the enemy’s line of sight, immediately before opening fire.

Questions about unmask one's batteries

What does unmask one's batteries mean?
Unmask one's batteries means to begin a decisive action, especially one that reveals one’s true strength or character.
What part of speech is unmask one's batteries?
Unmask one's batteries is a verb.
What is the past tense of unmask one's batteries?
The past tense of unmask one's batteries is unmasked one's batteries.

Words near unmask one's batteries in the dictionary

  1. unmasculinely
  2. unmasculinity
  3. unmasculinized
  4. unmashed
  5. unmask
  6. unmask one's batteries
  7. unmaskable
  8. unmasked
  9. unmasked one's batteries
  10. unmasker
  11. unmaskers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unmask one's batteries (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.

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