unstrangle

Verb

unstrangle (third-person singular simple present unstrangles, present participle unstrangling, simple past and past participle unstrangled)

1. To undo a constriction of the air passages, or restore to life after death by strangulation.
   • After you are seated and help your wife unstrangle herself out of her cloak and pick up her opera glass bag seven or eight times, and say, "O, my God, can't you hang on to anything?"1913, Frank Leslie, Miriam Florence (Folline) Leslie, Ellery Sedgwick, The American Magazine - Volume 76, page 111
   • That might be all right for Shorty, who is short, but, if that long- feared "Pride of Saskatchewan," Brother Sid Neville, ever got tangled up in a knot like that it might require medical aid to unstrangle him.1933, The Journal of Electrical Workers and Operators - Volume 32, page 127
2. To release from something that squeezes tightly around.
   • Sores and blisters were one introduction to the world of work, and slashing at Clematis to unstrangle whippy shoots of beech, which slapped the face and stung the eyes in defiance, has left little affection for the creeper and a stoical appreciation of this irksome task.1995, Julian Evans, A Wood of Our Own, page 15
3. To free from the stranglehold of excessive constraints.
   • Those who are afraid to unstrangle the judge, and allow him to comment on the facts, contribute more than all others to the inefficiency of the jury today.1946, Maynard E. Pirsig, Cases and Materials on Judicial Administration, page 389
   • No more strangleholds! No more strangleholds! Ungag our souls!! Unstrangle our souls!! Unsmother our souls!!1980, Antler, Factor, page 61
4. To free up (something) that has become choked up; unblock.
   • He promised to unstrangle Houston's "miserable transportation system," to "get started rebuilding the inner city" and to "change attitudes" in the police department.1977, The New York Times Biographical Service - Volume 8, page 1535
   • Speak the truth again: from the madhouse of your mother came a Jenny full of hot life and a lot of love, who learned to unstrangle and is still unstrangling all the chokeholds that were put on you.1983, Jenny James, David Boadella, Room to Breathe, page 271
5. To relax from constricting tension.
   • He drew a hand across his neck, as if to unstrangle his voice.1923, Munsey's Magazine - Volume 80, page 137
   • Mrs. Kane said, trying to unstrangle her voice. “Or better still—” she wet her lips and tried again, “or better still, why not ask Marlene? I bet Marlene would love to go with you.”1972, Summer situations, page 31