unwind

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”).

verb

1. (transitive) To separate (something that is wound up)
   to unwind a ball of yarn
   Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?
2. (transitive, obsolete) To disentangle
   […]but being not so skilful as in every point to unwind themselves where the snares of glossing speech do lie to entangle them,[…] 1836, Richard Hooker, The Works of Richard Hooker, volume 4, page 27
3. (intransitive, colloquial) To relax; to chill out; to rest and become relieved of stress
   After work, I like to unwind by smoking a pipe while reading the paper.
4. (intransitive) To be or become unwound; to be capable of being unwound or untwisted.
5. (transitive, finance) To close out a position, especially a complicated position.
6. (transitive, finance) To undo something.
7. (transitive, programming) To analyse (a call stack) so as to generate a stack trace etc.
   If the expression is a throw, we unwind the stack seeking a handler expression. 2006, Hans-Wolfgang Loidl, Trends in Functional Programming, volume 5, page 62

noun

1. Any mechanism or operation that unwinds something.
   The NEWPC argument specifies the address to which control should be returned after the unwind is complete. If it is omitted, its default is for control to return to the PC saved in the call frame next outermost to the unwound ones. 1989, Ruth E. Goldenberg, Lawrence J. Kenah, VMS Internals and Data Structures: Version 5 Update
   A primary function of the unwind is to provide a guided web into the slitter rewinder for accuracy in locating the web for slitting or to realign the edge of the web in a straight rewinding operation. 1998, Tappi Journal, volume 81, page 207