unbolt

[ uhn-bohlt ]

verb (used with object)

1. to open (a door, window, etc.) by or as if by removing a bolt; unlock; unfasten.
2. to release, as by the removal of threaded bolts:

   He unscrewed the nuts and unbolted the inspection cover.

verb (used without object)

1. to become unbolted or unfastened.

unbolt

/ ʌnˈbəʊlt /

verb

1. to unfasten a bolt of (a door)
2. to undo (the nut) on a bolt

Word History and Origins

Origin of unbolt¹

1425–75; late Middle English; un- ² + bolt ¹

Example Sentences

Jamie Pringle, an expert in Forensic Geosciences at Keele University, in England, said even if the noises came from the submersible, “The lack of oxygen is key now; even if they find it, they still need to get to the surface and unbolt it.”

From Washington Times

“I am sure you do. Now, Jane, trip on before us away to the backstairs; unbolt the side-passage door, and tell the driver of the post-chaise you will see in the yard—or just outside, for I told him not to drive his rattling wheels over the pavement—to be ready; we are coming: and, Jane, if any one is about, come to the foot of the stairs and hem.”

From Literature

Even Mr. Macron — who vowed in the aftermath of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May that France would never unbolt statues — acknowledged on Friday that France “is a country that has a colonial past and that has traumas that have not been settled yet.”

From New York Times

The coaches who had the keys had already left for the game, and nobody else could unbolt the door.

From Los Angeles Times

They unbolt the hinges on the back of trailers so people can enter, and then reattach them so that drivers are unaware of the load they are carrying.

From New York Times

Related Words

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