unseal

verb

un·​seal ˌən-ˈsēl 

unsealed; unsealing; unseals

transitive verb

: to break or remove the seal of : open

Examples of unseal in a Sentence

The court unsealed the documents in the Douglas trial today.

Recent Examples on the Web

Williams, who is specifically charged with violating a provision of the Espionage Act, appeared Wednesday in Raleigh federal court, where a magistrate judge unsealed the case against her, initially filed late last week, according to online court records. —Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026

The court will also hear arguments from a handful of news outlets petitioning to unseal the warrant that allowed the Sheriff’s Office to seize ballots. —Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 8 Apr. 2026

The plaintiffs have repeatedly argued that many of the restricted access documents should be unsealed. —Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 8 Apr. 2026

The warrant had been sealed until Wednesday, when another Superior Court judge issued an order to unseal it following a request made by the San Francisco Chronicle and other news outlets. —David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 8 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unseal

• abele
• alkyl
• anneal
• appeal
• cartwheel
• conceal
• congeal
• coquille
• corneal
• cornmeal
• flywheel
• foveal

Kids Definition

unseal

verb

un·​seal ˌən-ˈsē(ə)l 

ˈən-

: to break or remove the seal of