unbar

Claudius has made himself a monarch again, standing at the head of a shrieking horde of desperate peasantry who believe he can unbar the door to that heavenly place.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025

Etym., débacler, French, to unbar, to break up as a river does at the cessation of a long-continued frost.

From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

Still he began to unbar, though grudgingly, and in half a minute we had the door loose.

From The Red Cockade by Stanley John Weyman

She is the blush of morn first caught by earth, When seraph hands unbar the gates of heaven, And from its courts bright beams of glory stream.

From Joan of Arc A Play in Five Acts by Jane Alice Sargant

"Some one is surely in distress," said Shakespeare, rising, "suffer me to unbar the door."

From William Shakespeare as he lived. An Historical Tale by Henry Curling

The book’s final moments are breathless, if suspiciously flimsy—it isn’t until the very last sentence that Monk unbars “the great gate” and is freed.

From Slate ● Mar. 22, 2017

Will the sun forget to streak Eastern skies with amber ray, When the dusky shades to break He unbars the gates of day?

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Hitherto, whenever, "I've wandered in dreams," it has generally been my unlucky fate to lose all distinct recollection of them before "The morn unbars the gates of light."

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Eliza Leslie

At any hour of the day—I won't speak positively about the night—women may be seen at the unbars filling large earthenware jugs, coming and going, going and coming.

From Around the World on a Bicycle - Volume II From Teheran To Yokohama by Thomas Stevens

Soon as to Ilion's topmost tower they come, And awful reach the high Palladian dome, Antenor's consort, fair Theano, waits As Pallas' priestess, and unbars the gates.

From The Iliad by Alexander Pope

As a result, its classification was changed from unbarred spiral galaxy to barred spiral galaxy.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2022

Eventually, we decided that my father would not recover, and so, instead of continuing to try to stave off death, we unbarred the door and began to wait.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 5, 2017

In both barred and unbarred spiral galaxies, we observe a range of different shapes.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

Handel’s vocal writing can be fiercely demanding, nowhere more so than in the Angel’s opening aria, “Be unbarred, ye gates of Avernus,” in which Liv Redpath, a soprano, displayed lovely tone and fine agility.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2014

The fetters would not keep fastened; the doors unbarred themselves.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Knees, shoulders, elbows, buttocks and teeth collide with one another, fleetingly unbarring a glimpse into deeper space before they slide closed again.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2011

"Oh, troth, Mr. Mark, I'll not keep ye out in the cowld," said the hostess, as, unbarring the door, she admitted the guest whom we had seen some time since in the glen.

From The O'Donoghue Tale Of Ireland Fifty Years Ago by Charles James Lever

He had flattered himself that she was slowly unbarring the gates.

From The Furnace by Dame Rose Macaulay

It sounded like the cry of a child, and Offero hastily rose up and, unbarring the door, looked out.

From In God's Garden Stories of the Saints for Little Children by Amy Steedman

They got enough, however, to realise that he demanded the unbarring of the door, and that he both threatened and promised protection to whoever was within.

From The Strange Case of Cavendish by Randall Parrish