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
-
So far, 16 out of a total of 33 hostages expected to be released in the first — and current — phase of the deal have been freed.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN,
9 Feb. 2025
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Sion James ghosted a screen, freeing up space for Flagg to straight-line drive.—
Brendan Marks,
The Athletic,
9 Feb. 2025
Verb
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There are other storylines besides the sisters’ crusade to liberate that currency from its frozen prison as well.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
14 Feb. 2025
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Trump's announcement came shortly after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told allies that Ukraine cannot liberate all territory occupied by Russian forces and will not be given NATO security protection as part of any peace deal.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
More than two-thirds of retirees with debt carry balances on their credit cards, according to the 2024 Spending in Retirement survey, released in November by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA TODAY,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Connections is released at midnight in your time zone.—
New York Times Games,
New York Times,
15 Feb. 2025
Verb
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During the fight, Raka gets swept away by the current while trying to rescue Mae.—
Bill Desowitz,
IndieWire,
7 Feb. 2025
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Emergency crews, including firefighters and traffic employees, were deployed to help rescue victims, São Paulo mayor, Ricardo Nunes, said earlier.—
Ana Melgar,
CNN,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Everyone at the club has been holding out for the moment when new ownership arrived and the purse strings can finally be loosened.—
Patrick Boyland,
The Athletic,
14 Feb. 2025
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The administration may also be reluctant to yield on another major demand by Mr. Xi: loosening U.S. restrictions on exports of technology to China, such as the advanced semiconductors needed to power artificial intelligence, a key battleground between the world’s top two economic powers.—
David Pierson,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
In 2015, at age 17, she was legally emancipated from her mother.—
Andrew Walsh,
EW.com,
22 Dec. 2024
-
In that agreement, all Black people who had been enslaved by the Muscogee Nation were emancipated and provided with full Creek citizenship privileges, including the right to landownership.—
Caleb Gayle,
The Atlantic,
17 Dec. 2024
Verb
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For Howard, there’s no doubt in his mind Andre saved his sister’s life.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN,
9 Feb. 2025
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Six Feet Films producer and co-writer Darwin Shaw explained that the idea of telling this story first came from a meeting with Lee’s brother David, who had gone to school with the veterinarian who saved Thandi’s life after she was left for dead by poachers.—
David Morgan,
Deadline,
8 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near unchain
Cite this Entry
“Unchain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unchain. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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