Definitions

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

  • verb Present participle of ravel.

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

  • noun a bit of fiber that has become separated from woven fabric

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • A cynic would say that the ravelling is a pleasure to watch, and the media enjoys it too.

    Floating Axhead 2008

  • So she went calmly on with her darning, drawing the "ravelling," with which her needle was threaded, carefully in and out, and taking nice even stitches without one prophetic thrill or tremor; while, if only she could have looked through the two walls and two doors which separated the room in which she sat from the office, and have heard what Mrs. Ashe was saying, the school coat would have been thrown to the winds, and for all her tall stature and propriety, she would have been skipping with delight and astonishment.

    What Katy Did Next Susan Coolidge 1870

  • Did you have trouble with ravelling usin the other stitches?

    Doorways & Archways katelnorth 2008

  • Who the hell decided to tack on ravelling strips of muslin in a random pattern that looks like it was done by supervised-living residents, and call it macaroni?

    Archive 2006-04-01 Holly 2006

  • Who the hell decided to tack on ravelling strips of muslin in a random pattern that looks like it was done by supervised-living residents, and call it macaroni?

    busy, busy Holly 2006

  • There aren't many knitters out there who are making garments because they are thrifty and a good deal if I got into recycling old sweaters I could be superthrifty but I don't think I have the patience for all that un-ravelling.

    Archive 2005-04-01 Kate 2005

  • It's the ravelling and unravelling of these consequences that are the engine at the heart of this hefty book, driving Norrell into seclusion, and Strange into the distillation of the essence of madness.

    Sailing on the steamships of Naboo sbisson 2004

  • Africa, when th minibus taxi she was ravelling in was involved in an accident in Bethlehem.

    ANC CONDOLENCES TO SA HIGH COMMISSIONER TO INDIA 1997

  • Africa, when th minibus taxi she was ravelling in was involved in an accident in Bethlehem.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1997

  • Donovan kept it out of his voice, but in the pits of his eyes was the knowledge of how difficult this could be: picking up threads that had been eight years in the ravelling.

    A Taste for Burning Bannister, Jo 1995

Comments

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  • Cracks and road damage that indicates a pothole will form.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31001119 

      It identifies signs of "ravelling" - damage to the asphalt that leads to cracks and potholes.

    January 27, 2015