unspool
Other forms: unspooled; unspooling; unspools
To unspool is to unwind something that's coiled around a cylinder. If your cat unspools your thread, it'll be impossible to get it all untangled and wound back up.
Anything that's wound around into a spool or coil, can be unspooled. You might unspool the garden hose to fill up a backyard kiddie pool, or unspool the enormous amount of spaghetti from your fork and start over. Figuratively, something that's gracefully or smoothly rolled out is also unspooled: "Grandma loves to unspool a real nail-biter of a story after dinner."
-
reverse the winding or twisting of
-
show or project a film
-
be shown on or as if on a motion-picture screen
-
(figurative) develop or reveal an event, narrative, situation, etc.
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing unspool
Twelve-year-old Skye's older brother, Finn, returns home after spending four years on the run with their father, but Finn is so different that Skye isn't even sure he's the real Finn.
Kindlings were children trained as powerful, magic-wielding warriors…but the war is over. Now cast adrift and walking through meaningless lives traumatized, a small group is offered one last battle and must pull together to face their inner demons in hopes of a more peaceful future.
This novel follows two undead owl shapeshifters, vampire sisters Clara and Molly, and Boaz, who works at the theater they own, as they try to rescue Molly's girlfriend after she vanishes.