unbend
/ʌnˈbɛnd
/verb (past and past participle unbent)
1Make or become straight from a bent or twisted form or position: [with object]: I had trouble unbending my cramped knees [no object]: he unbent from the cockpit...
- As his knees unbend, his right hand follows through toward the target.
- He unbent the metal he'd twisted around the bars to hold the cell shut and tossed it aside, opening the door to my prison.
- He unbends his skinny frame from a nylon hammock and gives me a handshake more bone than flesh.
Synonyms
straighten, straighten out, extend, flex, uncurl, flatten
1.1 [no object] Become less reserved, formal, or strict: you could be fun too, you know, if you’d only unbend a little...
- Ben Kingsley is superb as the man who lives for honour and his family but is too proud to unbend when trouble and culture dislocation strike.
- Later, she unbends a bit; unlike Kitty, men don't leave her, ‘but they all go prematurely grey.’
- Ian Bostridge's Jupiter gradually unbends to deliver the sweetest soft legato, Patricia Bardon's Juno is hilariously fiery as the queenly betrayed wife, and Janis Kelly camps Iris up something terrible.
Synonyms
relax, become less formal, become informal, unwind, de-stress, loosen up, let oneself go
informal let one's hair down, let up, let it all hang out, hang loose, come down from one's high horse
2 [with object] Sailing Unfasten (sails) from yards and stays.At daylight, we were driven down to the marine to unbend the sails and do other necessary work on the Cruisers that had captured us.
2.1Untie or cast loose (a rope or cable).Haste is made to unbend the cable; line after line is let go until we are held by one alone.