unwrinkle

Etymology

un- + wrinkle

verb

  1. (transitive) To remove wrinkles from.
    He and she sat side by side like two wax people while the waiter stretched across to unwrinkle the tablecloth and straighten the knives. 1935, Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris, New York: Vintage, published 1957, Part Two, p. 140
    The job was done before Silver could unwrinkle the grimace on his face. 2000, Gary Soto, Nickel and Dime, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Part 2, p. 85
  2. (intransitive) To stop being wrinkly; to become flat or smooth.
    His head protruded out of his torn collar much as the head of the tortoise protrudes from its shell, the throat unwrinkling, the eyes like beads, or pips of jet. 1959, Mervyn Peake, chapter 66, in Titus Alone, New York: Ballantine, published 1968, page 179
    In a rain barrel, water unwrinkles to glass; a lime tree’s daughter there studies her face. 1987, Derek Walcott, “Cul de Sac Valley”, in The Arkansas Testament, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 11
    Emma went through the closet and removed the black gabardine jacket she had hung up to unwrinkle. 1996, Charles Mathes, chapter 15, in The Girl Who Remembered Snow, New York: St. Martin’s Press, page 212

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/unwrinkle), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.