Unfold

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ÊŒnˈfəʊld/
• GenAm IPA: /ÊŒnˈfoÊŠld/
• Rhymes: -əʊld

Full definition of unfold

Verb

1. To undo a folding.
• HerbertUnfold thy forehead gathered into frowns.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 19, Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
2. to unfold a tablecloth
3. (intransitive) To turn out to happen; to develop.
• November 8 2012, Scott Tobias, Memento’s puzzle structure hides big twists and bigger profundities Memento unfolds over 22 scenes—or, more accurately, 22 strands of time, the main strand (in color) moving backward in increments, and another strand (in black and white) going forward, though the two overlap profoundly.
4. (transitive) To reveal.
• Shakespeare Hamlet, I.v.Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing  To what I shall unfold.
5. To open (anything covered or closed); to lay open to view or contemplation; to bring out in all the details, or by successive development.
• William ShakespeareUnfold the passion of my love.
6. to unfold one's designs;  to unfold the principles of a science
7. To release from a fold or pen.
   to unfold sheep

Antonyms

• fold