uncurl

uncurl

English

Etymology

un- +‎ curl

Verb

uncurl (third-person singular simple present uncurls, present participle uncurling, simple past and past participle uncurled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To straighten out from being curled up.

   The hedgehog uncurled when its predators had left.

   • 1687, John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther

     But when his foe lyes prostrate on the plain,
     He sheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane;
     And, pleas'd with bloudless honours of the day,
     Walks over, and disdains th' inglorious Prey.

   • 1902, Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories, "The Elephant's Child"

     Then he uncurled his trunk and knocked two of his dear brothers head over heels.