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Glite Dictionary
to unswaddle

to unswaddle

8.6
To take off the blanket wrapped around a baby
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈswɑːdəl/
translation icon : desenvolver
  • "Carefully she unswaddles a chubby pink baby arm, little fingers, tiny coral nails."

Examples

  • The nurse gently unswaddled the baby to change its diaper.

  • With great care, she unswaddled her newborn to let him stretch his tiny limbs.

  • One of the men unswaddled the baby.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • After the baby was fed, the mother decided to unswaddle him for some playtime.

Synonyms

to unwrap
vsto unswaddle
15 1.0

To take off paper or cloth that covers a gift

is used only when removing cloth from a newborn baby

Antonyms

to wrap
729 1.0

To cover something by putting material around it

to swaddle
12 3.8

To wrap a baby tightly in cloth to keep them warm

Surface Forms

unswaddle infinitive
unswaddled past
unswaddled past participle
unswaddling present participle
unswaddles third person singular

Morphology

unswaddle = swaddle (transparent) = un + swaddle

The negative prefix 'un-' directly reverses the action of the verb 'swaddle', giving the clear meaning 'to remove swaddling'.

Etymology

Unswaddle starts with un- meaning 'do the opposite' and the rest swaddle means 'to wrap a baby tightly', like 'wrap'. So unswaddle is basically 'unwrap' a newborn, which is why to unswaddle a baby is to take off the blanket or cloth so the baby can move.