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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
Using his electric superpower, Fester causes an explosion that frees the L.O.I.S. subjects from their cells.—
Selome Hailu,
Variety,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Machine learning reviews production data to identify bottlenecks or root causes of errors, freeing up capacity and improving output.—
Bill Rokos,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
How did One Piece season 1 end? Season 1 of Netflix's One Piece adaptation ended with Luffy and the Straw Hat gang liberating Nami's hometown of Coco Village from Arlong (McKinley Belcher III), the spiky-nosed fish-man with hopes of turning the village into a fish-men empire.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
11 Aug. 2025
-
Shaked, who was liberated from the Matthausen camp, was referring to the condition of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, young men abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.—
Philissa Cramer,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Blockbusters are released in five or six languages at once.—
Vibhas Ratanjee,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Speaking with the Free Press in 2021, when a remastered version of the video was released, Reeves recalled the group’s early morning shoot at the assembly plant, now known as the Rouge complex.—
Brian McCollum,
Freep.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The victim was later pronounced dead at a hospital after she was rescued from the bin Authorities are seeking the public's help with information about the incident Authorities are investigating the death of a woman whose head was stuck in a donation box in Lodi, Calif.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Rescue calls have also risen by 20% over last year, which led to the closure of some of the most treacherous routes around Cortina and San Vito di Cadore, where the British hiker was rescued, Maurizio Dellantonio, chief of CNSAS, said at the weekend.—
Barbie Latza Nadeau,
CNN Money,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Sabrina Carpenter is loosening her leash on Man’s Best Friend ahead of its release date, with the pop star playing the album for a group of lucky fans who got to hear it before the rest of the world at an exclusive event on Wednesday (Aug. 13).—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Officials argue that these agreements are needed to get China to loosen its own controls on rare earth magnets, which threaten several U.S. industries like automobiles and defense.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Creators could become emancipated from their platofrms, and communities develop not just social but real currencies.—
Boaz Sobrado,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers informed enslaved people in Texas — the last state to enforce slavery — that they’d been emancipated.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2025
Verb
-
The fact that this movie is streaming on Amazon and Amazon is presented as the only thing that could ever save humanity from an existential threat is hilarious.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Hiro can take on different animal forms to traverse the landscape, solve puzzles, overcome enemies and save the realm.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unchain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unchain. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share