# unwind

> English word · Verb · IPA /ʌnˈwaɪnd/ · frequency rank #25,965

## Definitions
1. To separate (something that is wound up)
2. To disentangle
3. To relax; to chill out; to rest and become relieved of stress
4. To be or become unwound; to be capable of being unwound or untwisted.
5. To close out a position, especially a complicated position.
6. To undo something.
7. To navigate back through (a call stack) so as to generate a stack trace etc.
8. Synonym of unroll (“replace a loop with a sequence”).
9. To unravel or explain.

## Etymology
From Middle English unwinden, from Old English unwindan (“to unwind; unwrap”), from Proto-Germanic *andawindaną (“to unwind”); equivalent to un- + wind (“to coil”). Cognate with Dutch ontwinden (“to unwind”).

## Easily confused with
- **unwise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/unwind-vs-unwise)
- **Unwin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/unwin-vs-unwind)
- **unkind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/unkind-vs-unwind)
- **untied** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/untied-vs-unwind)

## Common misspellings (9)
`nuwind`, `uniwnd`, `unnwind`, `unwidn`, `unwindd`, `unwinnd`, `unwnid`, `unwwind`, `uwnind`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/unwind