unravel
v.v. to undo twisted or knotted threads. It also means when a plan or a system starts to fail or fall apart.
v. to undo or untwist woven or knotted threads; metaphorically, to investigate and solve a complex mystery or to experience the collapse of a structured system.
The edges of the old blanket began to unravel.
The detective spent months trying to unravel the mystery of the missing documents.
As the central bank raised interest rates unexpectedly, the carefully constructed economic recovery began to unravel, leading to widespread market panic.
PIE word *h₂énti From un- (suffix denoting the inverse of the specified action) + ravel. cognates * Dutch ontrafelen (“to unravel”)
Can be used both transitively (to unravel a knot) and intransitively (the plan unraveled).
The mystery was unraveled by the police.The mystery was unravelled by the police.In British English, the final 'l' is doubled when adding suffixes like -ed or -ing, whereas American English uses a single 'l'.