Unkennel
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To scare out from a lair or a den. transitive
- 2 To let (dogs) out of a kennel. transitive
- 3 To reveal, uncover or unfold. ambitransitive, figuratively
"Hamlet: […]There is a play to-night before the king; One scene of it comes near the circumstance Which I have told thee of my father's death: I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, Even with the very comment of thy soul Observe mine uncle: if his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damned ghost that we have seen, And my imaginations are as foul As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note; For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, And after we will both our judgments join In censure of his seeming."
Example
More examples"Hugo ran from the house, crying to his grooms that they should saddle his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the hounds a kerchief of the maid’s, he swung them to the line, and so off full cry in the moonlight over the moor."
Etymology
From un- + kennel.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.