uncurl

Dole eventually learned that he could grip a pen in his right fingers, a technique he used to mask the fact that he couldn’t uncurl them.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2021

Unable to uncurl from my kneeling position, I stayed there, as if at prayer.

From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2021

They do have different personalities: some don’t want to uncurl, while others are brave and want to explore.

From The Guardian ● May 10, 2019

The one fry that didn’t quite uncurl and left the fryer in one giant potato-y, batter-y lump.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2019

Still, it took some work on my part to uncurl the ball and get to the tasty cooked meat inside.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

The worker uncurls its claw-like fingers, daintily grips the basket by its edges and walks it over to a conveyor that will send it through an industrial washing machine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

When he makes a fist, then uncurls his fingers, Athena does the same.

From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2021

In a rescue center, the pangolin slowly wakes and uncurls, sniffing out a nighttime feast of ants’ eggs, then lapping it up with its implausibly long tongue.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2018

His brush uncurls a reptilian ripple of paint that twines and insinuates itself into a snakepit of color.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then she slowly uncurls herself until she’s standing straight with her arms thrown in the air, her wrists slightly bent.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

In a split second, Chauhan uncurled his fingers and accepted it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2020

Compared to other farmers in his area, he said, his corn remains uncurled for longer.

From Salon ● May 10, 2019

In New York, massive banners were uncurled from atop the entrance to the Holland Tunnel declaring “Black Lives Matter” and “Fund Black Futures.”

From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2016

The musicians curled and uncurled around Ian Hunter's snarling voice: "Oh is there concrete all around/ Or is it in my head."

From The Guardian ● Feb. 1, 2013

Finally he uncurled his stiff limbs and got up quietly, shivering; and with the knife at his waist he set off higher up the mountain, to calm his restlessness.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

By curling and uncurling their toes, geckos can alternate between sticking and unsticking from a surface, and thus easily move across it.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

“The important thing is that I can shoot a gun again now,” Azar said, gently curling and uncurling his fingers.

From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2016

Ancient Babylonians likened it to an uncurling date palm shoot.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2015

Both of us were upon her, coaxing her hands way from her face, uncurling her to reveal wet cheeks.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 14, 2014

I put the note in my pocket, curling and uncurling my fingers around it for the rest of the period.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon