| 释义 |
unˈbrace, v.
[un-2 3.]
1. refl. or trans. To free (oneself or another) from bands or braces forming part of clothing or armour. Also absol.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 7007 Ector affter euere chases, At eche a lepe his stede vnbrasis. 1420–2Lydgate Thebes 4284 He alighte doun, And brotherly, with a pitous face, To saue his lyf gan hym to vnbrace. 1598Florio, Sbracciarsi, to vnbrace ones selfe. 1633Rowley Match at Midn. iv, Widow. You will not be so uncivil to unbrace you here?.. Alex. I will off with my doublet to my very shirt. 1637Heywood Pleas. Dial. xviii. 147 Par. Have them all stript naked... Merc. Vnbrace your selues, put off, and nothing hide.
b. fig. To lay open; to disclose, reveal.
1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv, Now y'are both present, I will unbrace such a close private villain Unto your vengeful swords.
2. trans. To undo, to loosen or untie, to relax (a band, grasp, etc.).
c1475Rauf Coilȝear 629 The ȝaip ȝeman to the ȝet is gane; Enbraissit [read vn-] the bandis beliue. c1475Lament. Mary Magd. xxxi, Than gan I there min armes to vnbrace Up lifting my handes ful mourningly. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 9 The knight..Knit all his forces, and gan soone vnbrace His grasping hold. 1598Yong Diana 189 A faire and daintie hand he did vnbrace. 1718Pope Iliad xiv. 245 The queen of love..from her fragrant breast the zone unbraced. 1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 521 Arion..The cordage of the leeward guns unbraced.
b. To loosen, detach, or set free by the undoing or removal of braces or bonds.
1593Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 71 The resplendent eye-out-brauing buildings of your Temple, (like a Drum) shal be vngirt & vnbraced. 1627Drayton Agincourt ccix, Now with mayne blowes their Armours are vnbras'd. 1654Whitelocke Jrnl. Swed. Emb. (1772) II. 365 The gunner was so amazed with the daunger, that he forgott to unbrace the gunnes, and shott away the maine sheate. 1714‘Nestor Ironside’ Orig. Canto Spenser xli, So gan they soon her Armoury unbrace. 1813Scott Trierm. ii. xxiv, Gay shields were cleft, and crests defaced, And steel coats riven, and helms unbraced. 1828Landor Imag. Conv. III. 133 Unbrace his armour—loose the helmet first.
c. To relax the tension of (a drum).
1593[see 2 b]. 1636Massinger Bashf. Lover iv. i, Had you been Employed to mediate your father's cause, My drum had been unbraced, my trumpet hung up. 1691Dryden K. Arthur iii. i, Furl up our Colours, and Unbrace our Drums.
†3. To carve (a mallard or duck). Obs.
The two earlier instances are repeated in many later copies of the list of ‘proper terms’.
c1470Hors, Shepe, & G. (Roxb.) 33 A malard unbrased; a cony unlaced. 1508W. de Worde Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 265 Vnbrace that malarde. 1687J. Shirley Rich Closet of Rarities 52 In unbracing a Mallard, Observe that you raise up the pinion and leg, not taking them off. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 78 Unbrace that Duck or Mallard. 1771E. Haywood New Present for Maid 269 To unbrace a Duck. Ibid. 270 To unbrace a Mallard. 1804Farley Lond. Art Cookery (ed. 10) 293 To unbrace a mallard or duck, first raise the pinions and legs.
4. fig.
†a. To allow or make (the heart) to relax in feeling; to free (oneself) from restraint.
c1485Skelton Death Edw. IV, 93 O ye curtes commyns, your hertis vnbrace Benyngly now to pray for me also. a1500Chester Pl., Ador. Sheph. 448 Nowe pray we to hym with good intent, And sing I will, and me unbrace. 1511Sir T. Phelyppis in Early XVI Cent. Lyrics lxvii. 24 The rose I suppose thyn hart vnbrace.
b. To render lax or slack; esp. to deprive of firmness or strength in this way; to enfeeble, weaken.
1711Addison Spect. No. 249 ⁋5 Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the Mind, weakens the Faculties. 1715Pope Iliad iv. 365 But wasting years, that wither human race, Exhaust thy spirits, and thy arms unbrace. 1758Johnson Idler No. 9 ⁋2 What rules has he proposed totally to unbrace the slackened nerve? 1799Phil. Trans. XC. 2 The muscles of the malleus having been deemed sufficient for bracing and unbracing it. 1865Lowell Wks. (1890) V. 293 The war..which invigorated bolder men, unbraced him. 1884Fortn. Rev. Jan. 37 Everything has been done that could be done..to unbrace the sinew of national resistance.
c. absol. To become lax; to lose firmness.
1693Dryden Juvenal vi. 210 Let her Eyes lessen, and her Skin unbrace. 1699Garth Dispens. 37 At thy Approach the Springs of Nature start, The Nerves unbrace. a1718Parnell Gift of Poetry 455 When spirits stop their course, when nerves unbrace, And outward action and perception cease. |