Unpickles

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Restores a stored object from its serialized byte form back into its original structure in a programming environment
2. Reconstructs a data object that was previously converted into a stored byte sequence so it can be used again
3. Converts a serialized representation of data back into the live object it originally described within a program

Etymology: "Unpickles" is the third-person singular present form of "unpickle," a verb meaning to undo the pickling of something, most often by removing it from brine, vinegar or other preserving liquid. The verb is formed in the ordinary English way, by adding the reversing prefix "un-" to "pickle." The prefix attaches freely to many verbs, so "unpickle" follows the same pattern as "unwrap" or "unlock," undoing an action rather than describing a new one. The base word "pickle" traces back to the Middle Dutch or Middle Low German "pekel," meaning brine, which is why the older sense of pickling concerns salt water rather than vegetables. Anyone who unpickles something is therefore reversing a process that originally depended on that salty liquid.

Synonyms: deserialize, decode

Antonyms: pickle