unfold

verb

1. (transitive)To undo a folding.

   “to unfold a map; to unfold a tablecloth; She unpacks the new dress and unfolds it carefully.”

   “Unfold thy forehead gathered into frowns.”

   “Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.”

2. (intransitive)To become unfolded.

   “The curtains unfolded to reveal the stage.”

3. (intransitive)To turn out; to happen; to develop.

   “Events unfolded in an unexpected way.”

   “Memento unfolds over 22 scenes—or, more accurately, 22 strands of time, the main strand (in color) moving backward in increments, and another strand (in black and white) going forward, though the two overlap profoundly.”

   “The protests in Brazil are unfolding just as its long and heralded economic boom may be coming to an end.”

4. (transitive)To lay open to view or contemplation; to bring out in all the details, or by successive development; to reveal.

   “to unfold one's designs; to unfold the principles of a science”

   “Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold.”

   “Unfold the passion of my love.”

5. (transitive)To reassemble a line of text that was split across multiple lines.
6. (transitive)To release from a fold or pen.

   “to unfold sheep”

noun

1. In functional programming, a kind of higher-order function that is the opposite of a fold.