To untangle or undo something that is knotted or woven together; also means to gradually fall apart or stop working properly.
Formed by adding the prefix 'un-' (reverse) to 'ravel,' which comes from Dutch 'ravelen,' meaning to tangle or wind. Paradoxically, 'ravel' can mean both to tangle and untangle.
'Ravel' is one of English's few true contronyms—a word that means opposite things—so 'unraveling' can mean either fixing tangles or making them worse, depending on context!
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