unspool

verb

un·​spool ˌən-ˈspül How to pronounce unspool (audio)
unspooled; unspooling; unspools

transitive verb

1
: to unwind from a spool
unspool the cable
2
: to execute or present artfully or gracefully
unspooled a jump shot
unspooling an intricate tale

intransitive verb

: to be presented or revealed on or as if on a motion-picture screen

Examples of unspool in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Last summer, Imax CEO Rich Gelfond touched down in the German city for a conference of theater owners, looking to hype the blockbusters that were about to unspool on the company’s football-field-sized screens. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Apr. 2024 Directed by Gus van Sant, languorous, malicious meals unspool at La Côte Basque, the midtown society lunch spot, gloves are sought at Saks (they are shamed for being behind the times and told to–gasp–try Lord & Taylor). Vogue, 21 Mar. 2024 The researchers then worked through the rest of the sponge data to unspool a complete history of ocean warming going back to 1700. Raymond Zhong, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2024 Over the course of a summer, Jackson spends untold hours with Sharpton, and unspools those hours in a recursive series of vignettes, each one taking the measure of the man in a new and surprising way. Longreads, 23 Feb. 2024 Technicians oversee a series of machines that unspool rolls of metal foil and press it into battery cells. Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024 Mariscal and Trueba unspool the story like a mystery. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2024 The Los Angeles Festival of Movies will launch its first edition April 4-7, to unspool at Vidiots in Eagle Rock, 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown and Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024 On the album’s opening title track, Greenwood unspools some acoustic lullaby strum and Yorke coos anxiously as his voice pings amid elegiacally dissolving electro-acoustic folderol. Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unspool.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of unspool was in 1940

Dictionary Entries Near unspool

Cite this Entry

“Unspool.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unspool. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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