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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Recent Examples of unchain
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
The Shambala Center would unchain our brains Through mindfulness, yoga, and chanted refrains.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 1 Apr. 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
This most recent stretch includes half of his six big league homers, moments in which Naylor’s unchained enthusiasm for the game has teammates tripping over themselves to get out of his way.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2019
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
The Shambala Center would unchain our brains Through mindfulness, yoga, and chanted refrains.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 1 Apr. 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
This most recent stretch includes half of his six big league homers, moments in which Naylor’s unchained enthusiasm for the game has teammates tripping over themselves to get out of his way.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unchain
Verb
-
The men were freed after prosecutors agreed to vacate their convictions in 2014.—
Ryan Oehrli,
Charlotte Observer,
16 May 2025
-
Wirtz’s potency in the final third would attract attention and could free up Pep Guardiola’s talented front line.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Verb
-
Season 2 offers a chilling, darkly hilarious and oddly liberating spin on a bad day at the office.—
Michael Ordoña,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2025
-
Even drinking a large glass of water can remind you to turn off the work-thoughts and liberate yourself to focus on everything else.—
Tracy Brower,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
Verb
-
Most popular baby names in 2024 The top choices for baby names reported by the SSA closely matches those released in October 2024 by BabyCenter, an online parenting resource.—
Mike Snider,
USA Today,
10 May 2025
-
Users pay a monthly fee, from $199 to $359 a year, and receive free hardware updates when new models are released.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
10 May 2025
Verb
-
Sandra Oh and more, the new Smurfs will follow the residents of Smurf Village banding together to rescue Papa Smurf after he is captured by an evil wizard.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
16 May 2025
-
The Browns may have an opportunity to rescue themselves from a similar abyss.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Verb
-
The screws may loosen and allow engine oil to leak from the screw holes, according to the recall report.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
13 May 2025
-
The idea here is that long hairs will get wrapped around the side brushes as per normal in their V formation, but then as the brushes come in toward that parallel configuration, the hair loosens and gets flung straight into the main vacuum.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
10 May 2025
Verb
-
Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 May 2025
-
Juneteenth, which takes place on June 19, marks the day the last of the enslaved Americans learned they had been emancipated.—
Cheyanne M. Daniels,
The Hill,
28 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
To say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
-
America’s millionaires are now mostly on the coasts, in states with expensive real estate and high income jobs that generate more possibilities to save and invest.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
16 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unchain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unchain. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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