unmoor

verb un·moor \ ˌən-ˈmu̇r \

Updated on: 13 May 2018

: to loosen from or as if from moorings

: to cast off moorings

Recent Examples of unmoor from the Web

Economic jolts unmoored the city, which then turned to new industries for revitalization.

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "The new magnetism of mid-size cities," 1 May 2018
And when the adventure is over, the tent can simply be unmoored from the vehicle’s roof rack and propped against a garage wall until the next time nature calls.

— brigid mander, WSJ, "The Easiest Place to Camp? On Top of Your Car," 4 Apr. 2018
Most importantly, these apps buck one of the oldest stereotypes of treatment—that unmooring a person from their life is the only way to curb addiction.

— zachary siegel, WIRED, "Addiction Rehab is Broken. Can Technology Fix It?," 1 Apr. 2018
This announcement is partly the consequence of a White House that has been unmoored since Rob Porter’s departure amid allegations of abuse by his two ex-wives.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Trump triangulates on trade. Here are five takeaways from the tariff announcement.," 2 Mar. 2018
Months of personal upheaval had unmoored me, leaving me marginally employed and roving between apartment- and dog-sitting gigs.

— alison kinney, Longreads, "The Man in the Mirror," 10 Mar. 2018
Macron is expected to use the forum as the latest platform to pitch his vision of a reinvigorated, integrated Europe capable of holding its own in a world increasingly unmoored from the geopolitical arrangements of the 20th century.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "Even in optimistic Davos, winter has come," 23 Jan. 2018
Most significantly, however, White House officials fear that Hicks’ departure will leave the president unmoored.

— vivian salama, NBC News, "White House remains silent as fallout from staff shake-up grows," 1 Mar. 2018
No character reappears from one part to the next, but the book is unified by its sense of freedom as a disruptive force, as though its people were unmoored in something other than a physical sense.

— michael gorra, New York Times, "A Novel That Echoes Naipaul, Exploring the Limits of Freedom," 19 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unmoor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.