extrication

/ˌɛkstrəˈkeɪʃən/

Other forms: extrications

Extrication is when you set someone or something free. If your dog gets tangled in your neighbor's hammock, she might require some extrication.

The act of getting someone out of a physically tangled or otherwise complicated situation is extrication. When you unwind the yarn your cat is twisted in, that's extrication. And when you get your friend out of a complicated legal situation, that's also extrication. When you get yourself out of a difficult or awkward circumstance, that's also extrication. The Latin root is extricare, from ex, "out," and tricae, "perplexities or hindrances."

Definitions of extrication

1. noun

   the act of releasing from a snarled or tangled condition
   synonyms: disentanglement, unsnarling, untangling

   type of:

   freeing, liberation, release

   the act of liberating someone or something