unfurl

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English

WOTD – 28 August 2009

Etymology

From un- +‎ furl.

Pronunciation

Verb

unfurl (third-person singular simple present unfurls, present participle unfurling, simple past and past participle unfurled)

  1. To unroll or release something that had been rolled up, typically a sail or a flag.
    Synonym: (obsolete) splay
    They unfurled the flag at the start of the festival.
    • 1892, Joaquin Miller, Columbus :
      BEHIND him lay the gray Azores, / Behind the Gates of Hercules; / Before him not the ghost of shores, / Before him only shoreless seas. // The good mate said: “Now must we pray, / For lo! the very stars are gone. / Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?” / “Why, say, ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”
      “My men grow mutinous day by day; / My men grow ghastly wan and weak.” / The stout mate thought of home; a spray / Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. // “What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, / If we sight naught but seas at dawn?” / “Why, you shall say at break of day, / ‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’”
      They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, / Until at last the blanched mate said: / “Why, now not even God would know / Should I and all my men fall dead. // These very winds forget their way, / For God from these dread seas is gone. / Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say”— / He said: “Sail on! sail on! and on!”
      They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: / “This mad sea shows his teeth to-night. / He curls his lip, he lies in wait, / With lifted teeth, as if to bite! // Brave Admiral, say but one good word: / What shall we do when hope is gone?” / The words leapt like a leaping sword: / “Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”
      Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, / And peered through darkness. Ah, that night / Of all dark nights! And then a speck— / A light! A light! A light! A light! // It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! / It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn. / He gained a world; he gave that world / Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!”
  2. (figurative) To roll out or debut anything.
    When will we be unfurling the new feature?
  3. (intransitive) To open up by unrolling.
  4. (intransitive, figurative) To turn out or unfold; to evolve; to progress.

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of "to unroll or release"): furl, roll

Translations

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