UNCHAIN Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

unchain

verb

ˌən-ˈchān

Definition of unchain

as in to free

to set free (as from slavery or confinement) activists for animal rights who would like to unchain zoo animals and return them to the wild

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of unchain The nationwide standalone 5G that the carrier announced Wednesday essentially unchains that service from 4G LTE, allowing devices to connect to the network without first requiring a setup via AT&T’s older and slower network. — PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2025 When Henson refused to unchain herself from the fence, California Highway Patrol arrested her. — Kate Talerico, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2024 Max eventually unchains himself and helps Furiosa in her quest to free the cult leader's wives, gaining mutual respect along the way. — Ew Staff, EW.com, 3 July 2024 Van Gogh had unchained it from its age-old funereal associations and reinvented it as a tour de force of emotional connection and nurturance. — Deborah Solomon, New York Times, 11 May 2023 On Wednesday, the rescuers carefully lifted the shed enough to reach Bubbles and unchain the dog. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 3 Sep. 2021 The feds give an official exemption to Nuro, a company working on small self-driving cars—a sign that regulators are willing to unchain autonomous vehicles from the old rules. — Aarian Marshall, Wired, 9 Feb. 2020 Police say the three protesters had the ability to unchain themselves from the equipment but refused. — USA TODAY, 13 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unchain

Verb

Google said in its release that its new model is already being used internally to optimize memory at Google’s data centers, freeing up hundreds of terabytes of memory without buying additional hardware.

— Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
Larkin has been fairly vocal about his frustrations in the Motor City, and Barkov's $10 million coming off the books could free up the space to make a move for the American center.

— Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of free

Verb

The Sun in your sign trines liberating Uranus in your adventurous 9th house, encouraging you to explore a new subject, destination, belief, or direction.

— Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
We were taught by a gruff cockney called Fred Waring, who had participated in the D-Day landings in a regiment that had fought its way across Europe towards Berlin and liberated the concentration camp at Belsen.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of liberate

Verb

Mogwai, who would make their debut the year after Beat was released and with whom Bowery Electric would share a bill, would crouch in similarly unassuming and tense postures and use them to spring out and scare the bejeezus out of people.

— Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026
Never Enough, released in June 2025, is Turnstile’s fourth album and the follow-up to their 2021 breakthrough Glow On.

— Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of release

Verb

Twenty-six miles to the south, Ronald Conley rescued his dogs from his elevated house with a pontoon boat.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
As this revolution unfolds, the debris-clearing, satellite-rescuing capabilities of RPOs could ensure the sky doesn’t fall, keeping the orbital environment safe and accessible for all.

— Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of rescue

Verb

Hospital staff were working to save Pike's life and as of late Thursday were trying to clear the two doses of the drug that the state uses to execute prisoners, her lawyers wrote in a Friday filing in Davidson County Chancery Court.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
California’s plan to save coastal homes from El Niño could end up killing beaches.

— Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of save

Verb

This beautiful retrospective volume shows a poet developing steadily, from the graceful descriptions and encoded trauma of the poems from the 1990s through the loosening music and political engagement of the books of the last ten years.

— Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
The pullout, however, leaves a new Iraqi government with the daunting task of loosening Iran’s grip on its neighbor, which has long been trapped in a cycle of sectarianism, foreign meddling and civil conflict.

— Sarah Tamimi, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of loosen

Verb

Drew was legally emancipated from her mother at 14 and began living independently.

— Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 18 Aug. 2026
In 1775, his first enslaver sold him to the commander of Framingham's Minute Men, who emancipated him, and Salem went on to fight at Lexington and Concord.

— Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 4 July 2026

Definition of emancipate

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uncertainty

unchain

unchained

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“Unchain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unchain. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unchain

verb

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