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🍾 To open 💥 To release feelings
to uncork

to uncork

3 5.5
To let strong feelings come out after holding them in
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈkɔrk/
translation icon : liberar
  • After a long day at work, she felt the need to uncork her pent-up emotions by talking to her friend.

I swear Biden saved up all the energy he did not use at that debate and uncorked it tonight.

Examples

  • Strand reared back, uncorking his hostility, and from some unprecedented inner wellspring, delivered a championship-caliber punch to Axelrod's midsection.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • But it's hard to uncork that bottle once the genie has been let out.

    Blog text (21)

  • It was the face of a man flooded with things to say but unable to uncork the words.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I swear Biden saved up all the energy he did not use at that debate and uncorked it tonight.

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • It was as if someone had uncorked a dozen bottles of champagne.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The cost: Jude goes back to the bottle, ties one on, and uncorks a whole tirade to the moviegoers about her guilty past.

    Blog text (5)

  • During the therapy session, he finally uncorked his feelings about his childhood experiences.

  • As the party started, everyone began to uncork their worries and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

Synonyms

to release
vsto uncork
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

applies specifically to letting out inner feelings rather than general freedom
to let go
vsto uncork
∞ 1.4

To stop holding something or someone so they are free

concerns freeing inner emotions rather than releasing physical grasp
to unleash
vsto uncork
201 4.3

To suddenly let a strong feeling, power, or animal go free

means freeing feelings more gently or without extreme suddenness
to let out
vsto uncork
50 3.1

Make a sound like a laugh, cry, or sigh

involves releasing inner states, not only making sounds
to let loose
vsto uncork
  • Informal
12 3.9

Relax and enjoy yourself without worrying

targets releasing inner feelings specifically rather than general relaxation
to unloose
vsto uncork
  • Archaic
1 7.0

To make something less tight or set something free

focuses more on emotional release than on physical loosening
to unbottle
vsto uncork
8.1

To express feelings or thoughts you have kept inside

releases restrained feelings in a general, nonmetaphorical way
to unbridle emotion
vsto uncork
7.3

To show strong feelings openly without holding them back

describes freeing feelings but not necessarily with dramatic force
to unbosom
vsto uncork
  • Archaic
9.9

To tell someone your secret or worrying thoughts and feelings

is about releasing feelings broadly rather than confessing to someone

Antonyms

to bottle up
24 5.6

To keep strong feelings inside instead of telling others

How Released

to unleash
201 4.3
to let out
344 1.1
to uncork
3 5.5
to bottle up
24 5.6
to hold back
108 4.2

Surface Forms

uncork infinitive
uncorked past
uncorked past participle
uncorking present participle
uncorks third person singular

Morphology

uncork = cork (semi-transparent) = un + cork

The sense is a metaphorical extension ('remove a cork' -> 'release what was restrained'), so the relation is inferable but not strictly literal.

Etymology

A helpful way to remember uncork is to think of a bottle: when you take out the cork, the liquid rushes out, so to uncork feelings is to 'let out' strong emotion.