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