unravel

1. (transitive)Examples: "Mother couldn’t unravel the ball of wool after the cat had played with it."; "[S]he taking as the watchword of his true patience, vnraueld the bottome [i.e., ball of thread] of her frailtie at length, […]"; "So by thine offspring may repose be found, / As thou unravelest (thus to him I pray) / The knot in which my intellect is bound."Synonyms: unsnarlAntonyms: raveltransitive

2. (transitive)Examples: "Stop playing with the seam of the tablecloth! You’ll unravel it."; "[B]e not like her who unravelleth into strands the thread which she had strongly spun, by taking your oaths with mutual perfidy."Synonyms: ravelAntonyms: raveltransitive

3. (transitive)Examples: "to unravel the broad consensus which was created"; "to unravel the compromise achieved in the treaty"; "VVithin fifteen dayes, aſſiſted vvith the Duke of Spoletum, Frederick recovered all vvhich vvas vvonne from him, and unravelled the fair vveb of John Brens victory, even to the very hemme thereof."figurativelytransitive

4. (transitive)Examples: "to unravel the confusion    to unravel a plot"; "You muſt unravell agen, and make your vvife / Beleeve you did but try her."; "See then vvith vvhat inſtruments the holy Jeſus ſets upon this great reformation of the vvorld. Tvvelve men of obſcure and poor birth, […] theſe men vvere ſent into the midſt of a knovving and vviſe vvorld […] to introduce into a nevvly ſetled Empire, vvhich vvould be impatient of novelties and change, ſuch a change as muſt deſtroy all their Temples, or remove thence all their gods: […] a Religion that vvould change the face of things, and vvould alſo pierce into the ſecrets of the ſoul, and unravel all the intrigues of hearts, and reform all evil manners, and break vile habits into gentleneſs and counſel: […]"Synonyms: ravel, unpuzzle, unriddle, straighten outAntonyms: ravelalsofigurativelyreflexivetransitive

5. (transitive)Examples: "For everie time thou admitſt mee after, to thy / Pillovv, I'le ſtrike of an hundred pound, / Till all the debts be unravel'd: […]"; "O thou cruel Son of an / Inhumane Father! all my deſigns are ruin'd / And unravell'd by this blovv. / No pleaſure novv is left in me but Revenge."; "I vviſh they vvould ſeriouſly reflect on it, and unravel that injurious mirth by a penitential ſadneſs, and either ſpend their time better then in viſiting, or elſe direct their viſits to better purpoſes: […]"figurativelyobsoletetransitive

6. (intransitive)Synonyms: ravelAntonyms: ravelintransitive