Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To release from mental tension, strain, or formality; relax.
  • intransitive verb To release (a bow, for example) from flexure or tension.
  • intransitive verb Nautical To untie or loosen (a rope or sail).
  • intransitive verb To straighten (something crooked or bent).
  • intransitive verb To become less tense; relax.
  • intransitive verb To become less strict.
  • intransitive verb To become straight.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To become relaxed or unbent.
  • To rid one's self of constraint; act with freedom; give up stiffness or austerity of manner; be affable.
  • To free from flexure; make straight: as, to unbend a bow.
  • To relax; remit from a strain or from exertion; set at ease for a time: as, to unbend the mind from study or care.
  • Nautical: To unfasten from the yards and stays, as sails.
  • To cast loose, as a cable from the anchor.
  • To untie, as a rope.

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

  • transitive verb To free from flexure; to make, or allow to become, straight; to loosen.
  • transitive verb A remit from a strain or from exertion; to set at ease for a time; to relax.
  • transitive verb To unfasten, as sails, from the spars or stays to which they are attached for use.
  • transitive verb To cast loose or untie, as a rope.
  • intransitive verb To cease to be bent; to become straight or relaxed.
  • intransitive verb To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.

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

  • verb To free from flexure; to make, or allow to become, straight; to loosen; as, to unbend a bow.
  • verb A remit from a strain or from exertion; to set at ease for a time; to relax; as, to unbend the mind from study or care.
  • verb To unfasten, as sails, from the spars or stays to which they are attached for use.
  • verb To cast loose or untie, as a rope.
  • verb To cease to be bent; to become straight or relaxed.
  • verb To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.

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

  • verb make less taut
  • verb become less tense, rest, or take one's ease
  • verb straighten up or out; make straight
  • verb free from flexure
  • verb unfasten, as a sail, from a spar or a stay
  • verb release from mental strain, tension, or formality

Etymologies

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Examples

  • They call me Goddess, Angel, and court me with dainties fit for queens 'tables and farfetched wines such as unbend the soul from cares.

    The Beau Defeated: or, The Lucky Younger Brother 1999

  • So badly did his misused body stiffen, that when he was called it required another ten minutes and a second glass of whisky to unbend his joints and limber up the muscles.

    Trust 2010

  • First, of course, we had to unbend Michael, put his boots back on, and swing his legs over the dented Honda.

    Off the Beaten Track Finn-Olaf Jones 2010

  • When I took the steering-oar I had first to unbend her cramped fingers.

    Chapter 27 2010

  • He personally conducted the tour of the F&D facilities, leading them through the various labs and showing them a number of “wow” demonstrations that had been set up: a polymer that could be deformed – bent, crumpled, folded – and yet would “remember” its original shape and slowly unfold, uncrumple, unbend itself to become almost flat again in a matter of minutes.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • He personally conducted the tour of the F&D facilities, leading them through the various labs and showing them a number of “wow” demonstrations that had been set up: a polymer that could be deformed – bent, crumpled, folded – and yet would “remember” its original shape and slowly unfold, uncrumple, unbend itself to become almost flat again in a matter of minutes.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • He personally conducted the tour of the F&D facilities, leading them through the various labs and showing them a number of “wow” demonstrations that had been set up: a polymer that could be deformed – bent, crumpled, folded – and yet would “remember” its original shape and slowly unfold, uncrumple, unbend itself to become almost flat again in a matter of minutes.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

  • I'd supposed that after Fort Buford she might unbend a little; after all, by then I'd absorbed all there was to know of her Bismarck scheme, and seen the kind of country to be settled; I'd even drafted (with a straight face) a letter to Otto explaining the thing and inviting his approval-God alone knew what he'd make of it if it ever reached him, with my monicker on it.

    Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010

  • Norine was the high-spirited sort who would never unbend.

    "Power" by Harl Vincent, part 12 Johnny Pez 2010

  • He personally conducted the tour of the F&D facilities, leading them through the various labs and showing them a number of “wow” demonstrations that had been set up: a polymer that could be deformed – bent, crumpled, folded – and yet would “remember” its original shape and slowly unfold, uncrumple, unbend itself to become almost flat again in a matter of minutes.

    VELOCITY DEE JACOB 2010

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