0 to open something, especially a door that is locked (= fastened with a lock) using a key or an electronic device:
You need to know the secret PIN to unlock your mobile phone upon power up.
Once your phone is unlocked, you can buy and change SIM cards as you travel.
A chemical has been discovered that may be the key to unlocking the mysteries of Parkinson's disease.
One of poetry's functions is to unlock the imagination.
1 to open a lock using a key, an electronic device, or a series of numbers or letters:
Could you unlock the door for me?
2 to make something available to be used in order to increase its value or to make a profit from it:
Having my car stolen really taught me a lesson - I'll never leave it unlocked again.
Leaving your house unlocked is an open invitation to burglars.
Pharmacogenomics : unlocking the human genome for better drug therapy.
Considered from the viewpoint of the mechanical philosopher, the physical process of locking (or unlocking) involved two material bodies, a lock and a key.
By doing this, he unlocks time's productive power, describing these mornings as ' ' not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance ' ' (91).
The number of women unlocked for work within the prison has also increased.
A growing number of businesses are recognising the benefits of unlocking the potential of their people.
Indeed, there is alarming reading in parts of the report about how the staff had a cavalier attitude to unlocking prisoners.