“+ verb
Etymology: Middle English unfolden, from Old English unfealdan, from un- (II) + fealdan to fold — more at fold
transitive verb
1.
a. : to open the folds of : spread or straighten out : expand
unfold a tablecloth
unfolded the map
unfold the arms
b. : to open wide (as a gate)
hell shall unfold … her widest gates — John Milton
c. : to remove (as a package) from the folds : unwrap
began unfolding a brown paper parcel — W.B.Yeats
2. : to open to the view or understanding : make known : reveal
stand and unfold yourself — Shakespeare
especially : to make clear by gradual disclosure and often by recital or explanation
unfolded his story through dialogue — W.K.Ferguson
unfolded to me his desires for the university — A.C.Benson
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to open from a folded state : open out : expand
plane … wheels began to unfold — Howard Hunt
b. : blossom
buds beginning to unfold
c. : to move toward full development
if the … child were permitted to unfold amid rich and stimulating surroundings — Margaret Mead
2. : to open out gradually to the view : become visible or known
a panorama of carefully tilled farm lands … unfolds before the visitor's eyes — American Guide Series: Michigan
suppressed his comment and let the narrative unfold simply and objectively — R.A.Cordell
3. : to develop a parasitic vowel by anaptyxis
Synonyms:
unfold , evolve , develop , elaborate , and perfect can mean in common to cause something to emerge from a state in which its potentialities are not apparent, are unrealized, or are incompletely realized, into a state where they are apparent or partly or fully realized. unfold usually suggests a natural process by which the true or complete character of something is unveiled or disclosed
a bud unfolds itself into a flower
hitherto chemistry has not succeeded in unfolding the principles by which metals are formed — Encyc. Americana
the creative spirit gains sustenance and vigor for its own unfolding — Edward Sapir
the episodes of this life began to unfold themselves in his mind — Fred Majdalany
evolve implies an unfolding gradually and in an orderly way, often suggesting a slowness and complexity of process, sometimes carrying strongly the idea of natural development by an inner process
slowly, through ages and centuries, we have evolved a picture of the world we live in — Fortune
the program we have evolved as a result of a year of deliberation is now complete in general outline — J.B.Conant
the new order which seemed to be evolving — E.M.Forster
the germinal situation out of which this book evolves — N.L.Rothman
develop , in this connection, implies a passing through several stages, stressing the unfolding, usually slow, of latent possibilities
the scientific writer must also have a broad point of view, developed by experience, reading, and reflection — C.E.Kellogg
the viscose process was developed from the inventions of three Englishmen — American Guide Series: Virginia
the quarrel grew hot, and finally developed into a lawsuit — Gilbert Highet
elaborate implies labor or effort to develop or realize the clear possibilities of something that is only in the germ or only partly formulated
only a system with order and progress in the heart of it could elaborate itself so perfectly and so intricately — J.A.Thomson
escapes death from surgical infection because a Frenchman, Pasteur, and a German, Koch, elaborated a new technique — R.B.Fosdick
did the tubercle bacillus elaborate some strange substance which tended to stimulate the mind — Harry Sylvester
perfect implies an unfolding or developing of something so that it stands as a complete or finished product
a series of complementary inventions, the phonograph, the moving picture, the gasoline engine, the steam turbine, the airplane, were all sketched in, if not perfected, by 1900 — Lewis Mumford
conditions required of both Japanese and Americans a relentless perfecting of such cooperative efforts — T.C.Mendenhall b. 1910
Synonym: see in addition solve .