MEANING
To free someone or something from a physical trap, entanglement, or difficult situation.
Use it for
Use for a careful release from danger or complication.Show a difficult escape from a physical or social bind.
Words that belong together
- extricate oneself from
- extricate from a snare
- extricate a vehicle
On the page
They extricated the trapped bird from the wire without touching its wing.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- extricate
- Past tense
- extricated
- Past participle
- extricated
- Present participle
- extricating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- extricate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are extricating
- Present perfect
- have/has extricated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been extricating
- Past
- extricated
- Past continuous
- was/were extricating
- Past perfect
- had extricated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been extricating
- Future
- will extricate
- Future continuous
- will be extricating
- Future perfect
- will have extricated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been extricating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Often appears as “extricate oneself from”; it suggests effortful release from a tangle or predicament.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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