0 If something that is wrapped tightly around itself unspools, or someone unspools it, it becomes or is made straight:
1 When a film unspools, or someone unspools it, it is shown on a screen:
This autumn, film adaptations of the two novels will unspool in cinemas.
An open-air screen on the public beach unspools old Hollywood classics each evening.
I think I have unspooled my rambling thoughts enough for one day.
They will wait to see how the legal battle unspools before taking a decision.
2 to become, or to make something become, less strong or less under control:
As the fibres unspool, they line up to form a wide sheet of parallel threads that feeds into a resin-infusing machine.
Light emitted by a receding star is like a rolled carpet unspooling from a car receding away from you.
An election worker could conceivably watch who votes, in what order, and unspool the tape to figure out how they voted.
A third-rate mystery but with a great cast and some classy cinematography, the film unspools like an elderly director's swan song.
Casey will be singing many of Piaf's songs as the story of her life unspools in the play.
We're just going to have to let events unspool a little bit to see what they really mean.
My projects unspool every now and again.
These systems are under increasing pressure from a world in disarray and are beginning to unspool.
