unbar

[ uhn-bahr ]

verb (used with object)

, un·barred, un·bar·ring.

1. to remove a bar or bars from; open; unlock; unbolt:

   to unbar a door.

unbar

/ ʌnˈbɑː /

verb

1. to take away a bar or bars from
2. to unfasten bars, locks, etc, from (a door); open

Word History and Origins

Origin of unbar¹

First recorded in 1300–50, unbar is from the Middle English word unbarren. See un- ², bar ¹

Example Sentences

“A lot of them tried to escape. We didn’t really stop them. They managed to unbar the main gate and ran out into the road. There were a big ginger cat and a white owl waiting for them. Hell’s whiskers! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

From Literature

The reason is not because great powers generally like to unbar the gates and hold a picnic in the honor of the previously excluded.”

From Salon

During the insurgency that raged in Unbar following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, local tribes eventually rose up against al Qaeda and routed the group in what came to be known as the "Awakening".

From Reuters

But the Islamists have been regaining ground in Unbar over the past year, with the stated aim of creating a Sunni religious state straddling the border into Syria's rebel-held eastern desert provinces.

From Reuters

You must know that I lodge on a level with the street, in a room which was once a shop, so that if I unbar the shutters of my glass door, one step brings me into the middle of the street, and any one passing along, can put his head in at the window, and say good morning.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alleviate
• break up
• ease
• loose
• relax
• slacken
• undo
• unlock
• unscrew
• untie