unclose

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ʌnˈkləʊz/

Verb

unclose (uncloses, present participle unclosing; past and past participle unclosed)

1. (transitive) To open; to unclench.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan (poem), II.112:

     His eyes he opened, shut, again unclosed, / For all was doubt and dizziness […]

   • 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Triumph of Life

     All flowers in field or forest which unclose
     Their trembling eyelids to the kiss of day,
     Swinging their censers in the element,
     With orient incense lit by the new ray
     Burned slow and inconsumably, and sent
     Their odorous sighs up to the smiling air […]

   • 2000, Hayden White, Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect (page 78)

     Not a word passed between them as she went to the cupboard in the corner and replaced the hammer, which she had taken without asking leave; together—she unclosed her fist—with a handful of nails.

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