Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To undo (a lock) by turning a key or corresponding part.
  • intransitive verb To undo the lock of.
  • intransitive verb To give access to; open.
  • intransitive verb To set free; release.
  • intransitive verb To provide a key to; disclose or reveal.
  • intransitive verb To become unfastened, loosened, or freed from something that restrains.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To unfasten, as something which has been locked; open, as what has been shut, closed in, or protected by a lock: as, to unlock a door or a chest.
  • To open, in general; lay open.
  • To spread out.
  • To disclose; reveal; make known.

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

  • transitive verb To unfasten, as what is locked.
  • transitive verb To open, in general; to lay open; to undo.

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

  • verb transitive To undo or open a lock or something locked by, for example, turning a key, or selecting a combination.
  • verb transitive to give access to something
  • verb transitive To disclose or reveal previously unknown knowledge.
  • verb intransitive To be or become unfastened or unrestrained

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

  • verb open the lock of
  • verb set free or release
  • verb become unlocked

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • So the 25% public subsidy is necessary to "unlock" - what? private subsidy?

    The Guardian World News 2010

  • Instead, whole language is more about learning in context, using many different clues to unlock a word.

    Matthew Yglesias » Teaching Reading Right 2009

  • The only way to unlock is to enter a long code so that should put you off.

    Farmyard Tales Chickenlady 2007

  • The only way to unlock is to enter a long code so that should put you off.

    Archive 2007-04-01 Chickenlady 2007

  • An Abbott government would suspend fishing no-go areas to 'unlock' oceans A COALITION government would "unlock" Australia's coastal waters by immediately suspending the marine protection area process, Tony Abbott says.

    AustralianIT.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • A five-movement combo-pretty much unguessable, especially if you take into account the lock's reset behavior-takes about a second to unlock, which is pretty swell.

    Gizmodo John Herrman 2010

  • Thanks to Tonza, his or her solution is a quick, and easy way to get around this problem with the network settings preference, since trhe security update; by going to "security" (2nd last tab in the Personal column of system preferences in tiger) and clicking on the option that says "require password unlock each secure system preference"

    Discussions: Message List - root 2009

  • Thanks to Tonza, his or her solution is a quick, and easy way to get around this problem with the network settings preference, since trhe security update; by going to "security" (2nd last tab in the Personal column of system preferences in tiger) and clicking on the option that says "require password unlock each secure system preference"

    Discussions: Message List - root 2009

  • Thanks to Tonza, his or her solution is a quick, and easy way to get around this problem with the network settings preference, since trhe security update; by going to "security" (2nd last tab in the Personal column of system preferences in tiger) and clicking on the option that says "require password unlock each secure system preference"

    Discussions: Message List - root 2009

  • Thanks to Tonza, his or her solution is a quick, and easy way to get around this problem with the network settings preference, since trhe security update; by going to "security" (2nd last tab in the Personal column of system preferences in tiger) and clicking on the option that says "require password unlock each secure system preference"

    Discussions: Message List - root 2009

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