as in to free
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
activists for animal rights who would like to unchain zoo animals and return them to the wild
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Recent Examples of unchain
When Henson refused to unchain herself from the fence, California Highway Patrol arrested her.
—
Kate Talerico, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2024
Max eventually unchains himself and helps Furiosa in her quest to free the cult leader's wives, gaining mutual respect along the way.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 3 July 2024
Van Gogh had unchained it from its age-old funereal associations and reinvented it as a tour de force of emotional connection and nurturance.
—Deborah Solomon, New York Times, 11 May 2023
The Shambala Center would unchain our brains Through mindfulness, yoga, and chanted refrains.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 1 Apr. 2023
On Wednesday, the rescuers carefully lifted the shed enough to reach Bubbles and unchain the dog.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 3 Sep. 2021
The feds give an official exemption to Nuro, a company working on small self-driving cars—a sign that regulators are willing to unchain autonomous vehicles from the old rules.
—Aarian Marshall, Wired, 9 Feb. 2020
Police say the three protesters had the ability to unchain themselves from the equipment but refused.
—USA TODAY, 13 Sep. 2019
This most recent stretch includes half of his six big league homers, moments in which Naylor’s unchained enthusiasm for the game has teammates tripping over themselves to get out of his way.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2019
Kate Talerico, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2024
Max eventually unchains himself and helps Furiosa in her quest to free the cult leader's wives, gaining mutual respect along the way.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 3 July 2024
Van Gogh had unchained it from its age-old funereal associations and reinvented it as a tour de force of emotional connection and nurturance.
—Deborah Solomon, New York Times, 11 May 2023
The Shambala Center would unchain our brains Through mindfulness, yoga, and chanted refrains.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 1 Apr. 2023
On Wednesday, the rescuers carefully lifted the shed enough to reach Bubbles and unchain the dog.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 3 Sep. 2021
The feds give an official exemption to Nuro, a company working on small self-driving cars—a sign that regulators are willing to unchain autonomous vehicles from the old rules.
—Aarian Marshall, Wired, 9 Feb. 2020
Police say the three protesters had the ability to unchain themselves from the equipment but refused.
—USA TODAY, 13 Sep. 2019
This most recent stretch includes half of his six big league homers, moments in which Naylor’s unchained enthusiasm for the game has teammates tripping over themselves to get out of his way.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unchain
Verb
-
The titular daughter, Marya Zaleska, is also a vampire who believes that destroying Dracula’s body will free her of her vampirism.—
James Factora,
Them.,
2 May 2025
-
Sam Bennett had just been freed from the penalty box late in the second period Wednesday and broke for the net.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
1 May 2025
Verb
-
Audiences had to liberate a cadre of musicians from hypnosis and do so by concocting scenarios in which the club’s proprietor was continually forced to leave the room.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2025
-
Do what creatively liberates you, don’t cater to the data!—
Elias Leight,
Billboard,
6 May 2025
Verb
-
Spring was released on personal recognizance after a Worcester judge entered not guilty pleas on her behalf during an arraignment on Friday.—
Lance Reynolds,
Boston Herald,
10 May 2025
-
Users pay a monthly fee, from $199 to $359 a year, and receive free hardware updates when new models are released.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
10 May 2025
Verb
-
These good samaritans often crack cold cases and use dogs, drones and helicopters to rescue everyone from natural disaster victims to missing children.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
-
On Friday, May 2, the five people were rescued after the small plane was found by local fishermen in Bolivia's Amazonas region around 48 hours after the aircraft was reported missing, Bolivian news outlets La Razón and Red Uno and BBC News reported.—
Escher Walcott,
People.com,
3 May 2025
Verb
-
The screws may loosen and allow engine oil to leak from the screw holes, according to the recall report.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
13 May 2025
-
The idea here is that long hairs will get wrapped around the side brushes as per normal in their V formation, but then as the brushes come in toward that parallel configuration, the hair loosens and gets flung straight into the main vacuum.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
10 May 2025
Verb
-
Juneteenth, which takes place on June 19, marks the day the last of the enslaved Americans learned they had been emancipated.—
Cheyanne M. Daniels,
The Hill,
28 Apr. 2025
-
Instead of being described as a ransom payment, the debt and the French king’s gunboat extortion were framed as emancipating the slaves who, after defeating the world’s most powerful army, declared the new nation of Haiti on Jan. 1, 1804.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
What with it able to save passwords and autofill them across both Android and iOS platforms.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
-
Zac Efron's brother Dylan Efron helped save 2 women from drowning Medas' family established a GoFundMe campaign on Thursday to raise funds for Medas' medical treatment, explaining that the reality star was being treated in the ICU fighting necrotizing pancreatitis.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
3 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unchain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unchain. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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