Verb

To reverse the effects of an action.

Fortunately, we can undo most of the damage to the system by the war.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=October 15 , author=Michael Da Silva , title=Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=But Wigan undid their good work by conceding an avoidable second goal deep into first-half injury time.}}

To unfasten.

Could you undo my buckle for me?

(figuratively) to be heading for or to cause a downfall

* 1611 ,

Woe is me, for I am undone !

Verb

to separate the threads (of); disentangle

Stop playing with the seam of the tablecloth! You will unravel it.

Mother couldn't unravel the ball of wool after the cat had played with it.

to become undone; to collapse

* 2010 , Ian Cowie, "State pension Ponzi scheme unravels with retirement at 70", The Telegraph , June 24th, 2010,

*:The great Ponzi scheme that lies behind our State pension is unravelling – as they all do eventually – because money being taken from new investors is insufficient to honour promises issued to earlier generations.

New Ponzi Scheme Unravels !

(figurative) To clear from complication or difficulty; to unfold; to solve.

to unravel a plot

to unravel a mystery

to unravel the confusion

(figurative) To separate the connected or united parts of; to throw into disorder; to confuse.

* Dryden

Art shall be conjured for it, and nature all unravelled .

''to unravel the global compromise achieved in the Constitutional Treaty

''to unravel the broad consensus which was created