unstrangles

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
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
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
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