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unˈravel, v.
[un-2 3. Cf. Du. ontrafelen, † ontravelen.]
1. trans. To take out of a ravelled, tangled, or intertwined condition; to disentangle; also, to pull down, to undo (a woven fabric).
Freq. in fig. context: see quots. under (a).
(a)1603Dekker Wonderfull Yeare Wks. (Grosart) I. 131 She..vnraueld the bottome of her frailetie at length. 1639Fuller Holy War iv. i. 166 Frederick..unravelled the fair web of John Brens victory, even to the very hemme thereof. 1709Swift Tritical Ess. Wks. 1755 II. i. 144 We shall be forced to..unravel in the night what we spun in the day. 1792Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 3 The web has been too long weaving to be unravelled in an instant. 1856Kingsley in N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 78 To unravel patiently the tangled web of good and evil. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 81, I, link by link, unravelled any tangle of the chain.
(b)1688Boyle Final Causes Nat. Things iv. 172 Those curious oval prisons in which they [sc. silkworms] enclose themselves, and which are unreveled into silk. 1727[Dorrington] Philip Quarll (1816) 54 He was obliged to unravel the sail. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 352 As often happens in trying to unravel an entangled thread, while they loosen the knot in one place they draw it tighter in another. 1871A. Meadows Man. Midwifery (ed. 2) 46 So intimate is the union in later months, that it is impossible to unravel the meshes. 1883Martin & Moale Vertebr. Dissect. 143 Unravel the small intestine, cutting it away from the mesentery.
transf.1860Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 227 By prisms we can unravel the white light into pure red, orange, yellow [etc.].
†2. fig. To reverse, undo, annul. Obs.
1644–7Cleveland Char. Lond. Diurn. 2 It differs..as a black Witch doth from a white one, whose office is to un⁓ravell her inchantments. 1667Dryden & Davenant Tempest iv. iv, All my designs Are ruin'd and unravell'd by this blow. 1673Lady's Call. i. iv. §10, I wish they would..unravel that injurious mirth by a penitential sadness. 1710Palmer Proverbs 382 One season let slip, breaks the series of our conduct, unravels the order of life. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1765) I. 57 Though at last He wofully unravelled most of the pursuits of his early age. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 248 After the land had descended to his issue, they would not unravel the matter again, and suffer his estate to be shaken.
3. To free from intricacy or obscurity; to make plain or obvious; to reveal or disclose.
1660Jer. Taylor Ductor i. iv. rule ii. §22 A religion that would..unravel all the intrigues of hearts. 1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 529 Simple Disjunct Proportions have at large..been unravelled in the foregoing Part. 1709Steele Tatler No. 178 ⁋1 With these..Passages..[he] was breaking his Brains Day and Night to..unravel their Sense. 1789Belsham Ess. II. xxxii. 207 Without attempting to unravel all the intricacies of scholastic theology. 1827Lytton Falkland i. 23, I unravelled the intricacies which knit servility with arrogance. 1862Burton Bk. Hunter 377 To unravel the mystery of these primitive sculptures. 1884A. R. Pennington Wiclif vi. 188 Unravelling difficult questions of theology.
refl.1791Paine Rights of Man 108 In a few days..the plot unravelled itself. 1863Stanley Jew. Ch. i. xiii. 295 As the story unravels itself.
4. intr. To come undone; to become unknit or disentangled. Freq. fig.
1650T. Vaughan Anthroposophia 55 When the Harmony is broken.., the vitall Twist..Disbands and unravells. 1656T. Watson One Thing Necessary 53 Our life doth unravell apace. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 566 As if to leave the Church of Rome were at last to unravel into a mere canting Paganism. 1744Young Nt. Th. vi. 158 In an eternity, what scenes shall strike!.. What webs of wonder shall unravel, there! 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 489 My vehicle did not begin to unravel like a torn stocking. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 533 The stuff..increases in thickness.., and will not unravel when it is cut. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. i. 23 As the burning threads Of woven cloud unravel in pale air.
Hence unˈravelled ppl. a.
1659W. Chamberlayne Pharon. iv. v. 193 Whose serious souls are busied to compose Unravelled thoughts into a method. a1720J. Hughes Ode to Creator ix, Proceed my muse! Time's wasting thread pursue, And see at last the unravel'd clue. 1762Falconer Shipwr. iii. 41 'Tis mine the unravell'd prospect to display. 1814Byron Lara i. xvi, Vain thought! that hour of ne'er unravell'd gloom Came not again. 1859Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 168 The genuine Skye [terrier],..like an unravelled ball of worsted. |