unwind the stack During the execution of a {procedural} language, one is said to "unwind the stack" from a called {procedure} up to a caller when one discards the {stack frame} and any number of frames above it, {pop}ping back up to the level of the given caller. In {C} this is done with "{longjmp}"/"{setjmp}", in {Lisp} with "{throw}/{catch}". See also {smash the stack}. [{Jargon File}]