unleash

From un- +‎ leash.

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈliʃ/

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• Rhymes: -iːʃ

unleash (third-person singular simple present unleashes, present participle unleashing, simple past and past participle unleashed)

1. (transitive) To free from a leash, or as from a leash.

   Antonyms: leash, leash up

   He unleashed his dog in the park.

2. (figurative) To let go; to release.

   He unleashed his fury.

   • 2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     As Bent pulled away to the far post, Agbonlahor opted to go it alone, motoring past Gary Caldwell before unleashing a shot into the roof of the net.

   • 2020 June 3, Andrew Mourant, “A safer railway in a greener habitat”, in Rail, page 58:

     Storm Charlie had raged throught [sic] the night and was unleashing further gusts on the morning that RAIL was due to inspect a vegetation management project in Kent. Bit by bit, the train timetable unravelled. A trip beginning at Bradford-on-Avon belatedly reached Bath, but that turned out to be journey's end.

3. (figurative) To precipitate; to bring about.
   • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?

• Hulsean, unheals, unshale