UNSCREW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unscrew mean? 

• UNSCREW (verb)
  The verb UNSCREW has 2 senses:

1. loosen something by unscrewing it

2. loosen by turning

  Familiarity information: UNSCREW used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNSCREW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they unscrew    ... he / she / it unscrews   
Past simple: unscrewed   
Past participle: unscrewed   
-ing form: unscrewing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Loosen something by unscrewing it

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

unscrew the outlet plate

Hypernyms (to "unscrew" is one way to...):

loose; loosen (make loose or looser)

"Unscrew" entails doing...:

circumvolve; rotate (cause to turn on an axis or center)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Loosen by turning

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

unscrew the bottle cap

Hypernyms (to "unscrew" is one way to...):

loose; loosen (make loose or looser)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

screw (tighten or fasten by means of screwing motions)

 Context examples 

We shall unscrew the coffin-lid, and shall do our operation: and then replace all, so that none know, save we alone.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

When I seemed to have been dozing a long while, the Master at Salem House unscrewed his flute into the three pieces, put them up as before, and took me away.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I ventured to unscrew one of my chairs, which were always fastened to the floor; and having made a hard shift to screw it down again, directly under the slipping-board that I had lately opened, I mounted on the chair, and putting my mouth as near as I could to the hole, I called for help in a loud voice, and in all the languages I understood.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Then he went on: "But It is here, and I'll find It. It is in the hold, perhaps in one of those boxes. I'll unscrew them one by one and see. You work the helm."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

With an effort Wilson left the shade and support of the doorway and, breathing hard, unscrewed the cap of the tank. In the sunlight his face was green.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)