| 释义 |
unˈloose, v.
[un-2 9. Cf. unleese v.]
1. trans. To relax, slacken the tension or firmness of (some part of the body, one's grasp or hold, etc.).
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 87 Seriauns..Not for loue of vr lord vnloseþ heore lippes ones. 1377Ibid. B. xvii. 139 Þe fader was fyrst, as a fyst with o fynger foldynge, Tyl hym loued and lest to vnlosen his fynger. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 89 By that the body is opened, vnlosed, and resolued. 1564Child-Marriages 200 And so, vnlosinge handes, they kissed. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 223 The weake wanton Cupid Shall from your necke vnloose his amorous fould. 1661J. Childrey Brit. Baconica 143 The Salmon..takes his tail in his mouth, and with all his force unloosing his circle on a sudden.. he mounteth up. 1727Gay Begg. Op. i. xiii, My hand, my heart,..is so riveted to thine that I cannot unloose my hold. 1790A. M. Johnson Monmouth III. 152 Her hands were clasped about his neck, which could not be unloosed without the greatest violence. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 35 He found it impossible to unloose her arms from his neck. 1853C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe xii, Saying ‘Good night..,’ [she] unloosed her embrace.
fig.1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) II. 47 Providence has wisely ordered, that disappointments..should, by degrees, unloose the hold we take of this dim spot.
2. To set free from bonds, harness, etc.; to release from confinement. Also fig. and refl.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 198 Þat is þe lok of loue þat vnloseþ grace [B. i. 200 lateth oute my grace]. a1400in Engl. Studien XXXII. 19 Þou, lady, vnlose me of þo bondes Þat I wrot with myn owyn hondes. 1512Colet Serm. Convoc. C iv b, Vnlouse your selfe frome the worldly bondage. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 88 Then Yorke vnloose thy long imprisoned thoughts. 1655tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion iii. 67 After she had unloosed and well washed me. 1664Jer. Taylor Dissuas. Popery i. iii. §i. 159 You can as well be dispenc'd with for that Perjury as the other; and you cannot be tied so fast, but the Pope can unloose you. a1711Ken Psyche Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 299 The Soul..seem'd from Flesh unloos'd To..spatiate unconfin'd. 1777Sheridan Trip Scarb. v. ii, Unloose my lord there, you scoundrel! 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiii. 288 They were obliged to unloose the dogs and drive them forward alone. 1872Holland Marb. Proph. 10 [To] unloose a soul from purgatorial bonds.
absol.1851H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1858) 144/1 The function of that new spirit was not to bind but to unloose.
b. To set free for action; to bring into play.
1735Thomson Liberty ii. 59 When mysterious Superstition came,..Then tyrant Power the righteous scourge unloos'd. 1828Lytton Pelham II. iv, How wonderfully..your city dignities unloose the tongue. 1831Scott Cast. Dang. v, Having unloosed his repartee to this extent.
3. To undo, untie, unfasten (a knot, belt, band, bundle, etc.). Also in fig. context.
1526Tindale Luke iii. 16 Whose shue latchet I am nott worthy to vnloose. 1551T. Wilson Logike P v, To confute, is nothyng els but..to vnlose by reason, thynges knit together by craft. 1577Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 39 Then the bundels vnloosed and dryed in the Sunne, are beaten with beetelles. 1608D. Price Chr. Warre 1 The ænigma is disclosed, the knot vnloosed. 1669Earl of Orrery Parthen. iii. vii. 200 The Gallies..grappled so strongly, that nothing but Victory was able to unloose them. 1760Sterne Tr. Shandy iii. viii, Dr. Slop must have had three fifths of Job's patience..to have unloosed them [sc. knots]. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 358 To unloose those bands, by which he is connected to his natural prince. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxviii, There are other means of disengaging such ties, without unloosing the cords of life. 1847F. W. Newman Hist. Hebrew Monarchy viii. 272 To unloose the covering from his loins. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 155, I now unloosed my scrip.
fig.1668H. More Div. Dial. I. 93 These Experiments indeed strike very strongly on the..senses, but there is a subtile Reason that presently unlooses all again. 1710R. Ward Life H. More 116 Nothing can unloose the Sophistries of the selfish Animal Life, but [etc.]. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. iii. 96 The Eternal..Must unloose..The snake-like Doom coiled underneath his throne By that alone.
4. To detach, so as to get rid of or remove.
a1470H. Parker Dives & Pauper (W. de W. 1496) vi. Int. 26/1 Unlouse soo thy richesses from the, that [etc.]. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 214 At which tyme they vnlose the stones, & ryse vppe at their pleasure. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 136 That which they possess They scatter and unloose it from their bond. 1748Hervey Medit. (ed. 4) I. 214 Those beneficent Hands, which were..stretched out to unloose the heavy Burthens.
5. intr. To become loose or unfastened. rare.
1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits 321 The creature easily vnlooseth, because the same was moist and watry. 1697Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. 143 Without this Virtue, the publick Union must unloose.
Hence unˈlooser; unˈloosing vbl. n.
1860Miss Mulock Domest. Stories (1862) 152 Thus let us think of thee, O Death; gentle *unlooser of life's burthen.
1611Florio, Dislegamenti, *vnloosings, vnbindings. 1831A. W. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administr. (1837) II. 80 The unloosing of Anti-Christ and Satan. 1866J. H. Newman Lett. to Pusey 37 The knot of Eve's disobedience received its unloosing through the obedience of Mary. |