ravel out
Definition
Verb: - To separate or disentangle the threads or fibers of something; to untangle or resolve something that is complex or confused.
Usage
This verb describes the action of carefully undoing something tangled, knotted, or intricately woven. It can be used literally for physical materials or figuratively for complex situations, problems, or mysteries.
Examples
Advanced Usage
- Figurative Use: Commonly used to describe the process of analyzing and clarifying a complicated issue, sequence of events, or set of information.
- The historian's new book seeks to ravel out the complex causes of the war.
Variants and Related Words
- Ravel (verb): The base form, meaning to tangle or complicate, or conversely, to disentangle. The meaning is often derived from context.
- Unravel (verb): A more common synonym meaning to disentangle or solve. "Ravel out" is synonymous with the disentangling sense of "unravel."
Synonyms
- Disentangle
- Untangle
- Unravel
- Unknot
- Straighten out
- Resolve
Antonyms
- Entangle
- Tangle
- Complicate
- Knot
- Confuse
Phrasal Verbs
This is the phrasal verb form of "ravel." The particle "out" emphasizes the process of bringing something from a state of confusion to a state of clarity or order.
Related Idioms
- To ravel out a mystery: To solve or clarify a mysterious situation by carefully separating its components.
- The final chapter ravels out the mystery that has gripped the town.
Verb
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disentangle
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can you unravel the mystery?
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