untwine

[ uhn-twahyn ]

verb (used with or without object)

, un·twined, un·twin·ing.

1. to bring or come out of a twined condition.

Other Words From

• un·twinea·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of untwine¹

1300–50; Middle English untwinen; un- ², twine ¹

Example Sentences

Legs — how many? whose? — twine and untwine, a meticulous confusion of limbs.

From New York Times

“To untwine it to one aspect of it diminishes the other, and I don’t want to do that. It’s the totality of it. It’s the gestalt of it.”

From Washington Post

It would be difficult to untwine the system by which we measured much of the past 80 years — but that isn’t really New Zealand’s goal.

From Washington Post

We know how these stories usually end once they untwine.

From Washington Times

The fierce grudges over historical persecution and a thousand perceived national and cultural slights cannot be untwined from the sports for many Koreans.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• detach
• disengage
• emancipate
• extricate
• unravel
• unscramble
• untangle
• untie