Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To untie or undo (a knot).
  • noun In knot theory, a knot that can be unraveled in three-dimensional space into an untangled loop without cutting it or intersecting it with itself.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To free from knots; untie.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To free from knots; to untie.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun mathematics In knot theory, a loop that is not knotted.
  • verb transitive To undo (a knot).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From un- + knot.

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Examples

  • I had to dig for the wire, unknot it, and pull it free—in between the times I blacked out.

    Dreams of a Dark Warrior Kresley Cole 2011

  • Partly that's because I've hit a mental roadblock -- I need to step back and unknot some plotting stuff before I can progress, and because my brain knows that it's starting to throw a tanty.

    Urgent reading for all Aussie book lovers karenmiller 2009

  • I had to dig for the wire, unknot it, and pull it free—in between the times I blacked out.

    Dreams of a Dark Warrior Kresley Cole 2011

  • It took an hour for Alma to unknot the nest of tangles Josephine had accumulated.

    The Lost Children Carolyn Cohagan 2010

  • It took an hour for Alma to unknot the nest of tangles Josephine had accumulated.

    The Lost Children Carolyn Cohagan 2010

  • He could unknot it, of course, but he didn't want to.

    Widows and Orphans R. Daniel Lester 2010

  • It took an hour for Alma to unknot the nest of tangles Josephine had accumulated.

    The Lost Children Carolyn Cohagan 2010

  • It took an hour for Alma to unknot the nest of tangles Josephine had accumulated.

    The Lost Children Carolyn Cohagan 2010

  • He felt breath pumped into his lungs and strong hands began to unknot the cramp.

    TRIANGLE SONDRA MARSHAK 2009

  • He felt breath pumped into his lungs and strong hands began to unknot the cramp.

    TRIANGLE SONDRA MARSHAK 2009

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