as in freeing
to set free from entanglement or difficulty
you've woven such a web of lies that it's hard to see how you can extricate yourself now
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Recent Examples of extricating
The unit's soldiers train to operate in frigid conditions, like driving special cold weather vehicles and extricating themselves from icy waters.
—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 20 Jan. 2026
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 20 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extricating
Verb
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Aljorna was able to slip out of his jacket, freeing himself from the agent’s grasp, and ran to his cousin, Goetz said.—
Emma Tucker,
CNN Money,
15 Feb. 2026
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The lights in the hallways are on, freeing the staff from the need to shuffle around with flashlights.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Now, after a life-saving sonogram, Glanville has revealed that a ruptured pair of breast implants is the true culprit behind her condition.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Feb. 2026
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But that spirit of collaboration might be much harder to forge today, and a body tasked with saving Social Security before 2031 would face significant challenges that the commission of the early ‘80s did not.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Both were premised on the idea of frictionless ease, liberating their users from outmoded toils.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
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For the determined, liberating people’s cars from the ice can mean a quick source of income.—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), her telekinetic powers become difficult to control after she is struck by solar flares while rescuing the space shuttle Endeavor.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
16 Feb. 2026
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Their technician even falls over after rescuing Andersson with a replacement ski.—
Sean Nevin,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Then their subject starts to flirt with the idea of disengaging and moving to a like-minded nudist community, even relocating for a few days to test the new setup out.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Emotional fatigue builds and high performers start rationing effort or quietly disengaging.—
Mark Murphy,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Our narrator, a gay, happily married father of two disentangling himself from a poly love affair, is—depending on the light—brilliant, self-mythologizing, abject, hopeful, and vulnerable.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
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Brittany Luse is joined by writer and journalist Ana Marie Cox to get into how people are disentangling alcohol from their lives, and the lessons she's learned as a recovering alcoholic.—
Veralyn Williams,
NPR,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extricating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extricating. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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