| 释义 |
▪ I. unwind, v.1|ʌnˈwaɪnd|
[un-2 3. Cf. OE. (rare) unwindan, onwindan, = (M)Du. ontwinden, OS. antwindan, OHG. intwindan (MHG. and G. ent-), to untwist, disentangle.]
1. a. trans. To wind off, move back, or detach (a wrapping, covering, bandage, etc.); to undo the folds or convolutions of (thread, tape, or the like); to untwine, untwist.
c1325Lai le Freine 189 Therto he yede and it [sc. a furred skin] vnwond, And the..child therin he fond. c1440Promp. Parv. 368 On-wyndyn, or on-twynyn.., detorqueo. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 43 b/2 To wind, and agayne vnwinde the same [bandages]. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 101 Gracious Lord, Stand for your owne, vnwind your bloody Flagge. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xviii. §8 Skaynes or Bottomes of thread.. bee vnwinded at large, when they come to be vsed. 1713Blackmore Creation vi. 294 Engendering heats these one by one unbind, Stretch their small tubes, and hamper'd nerves unwind. 1759in Phil. Trans. LI. 55 The pod [= cocoon] could not be easily unwinded. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam v. lvii, She did unwind Her veil. 1818Keats Endym. ii. 851 The fair visitant at last unwound Her gentle limbs, and left the youth asleep. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. xxix, ‘Pooh! pooh!’ said Mr. Folair, unwinding his comforter.
refl.1740R. Brookes Art Angling 10 As soon as the Pike takes the Bait,..the Line unwinds itself off the Trimmer. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. xvi, A skein of fine silk..unwinding itself as it descended.
b. fig. and in fig. context.
1387–8T. Usk Test. Love iii. ix. (Skeat) l. 77 In this boke be many privy thinges wimpled and folde; unneth shul leude men the plites unwinde. 1482Caxton Polychron. 5 b, My wytte is full lytil to vnwynde the wrappynges of so wonderful werkes. a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. xx, That it should have neded a stronger vertue then his, to have un⁓wound so deeply an entred vice. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. ii. 51 As you vnwinde her loue from him; Least it should rauell. a1613Overbury Remedy of Love 8, I mean not to blot out what I have taught, Nor to unwinde the web that I have wrought. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) Introd. 13 Thou me unwind that knotty snarled clue. 1669Glanvill Catholic Charity 52 He..hath many prejudices..; and these are not to be torn off all at once, but softly, and by degrees to be unwound. 1820Shelley Witch Atl. lxx, And she unwound the woven imagery Of second childhood's swaddling bands. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. viii, Unwinding the endless tapestry of time. 1908S. E. White Riverman xlvi, There's an awful lot of red-tape to unwind, as there always is in such cases.
refl.1659W. Chamberlayne Pharon. iii. iii. 315 Here his harsh thoughts unwound Themselves in pleasure.
absol.1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 1 If my new thoughts have added to your bottom, I know you will un⁓winde gently for feare of ravelling.
c. To cause to uncoil; to free from a coiled state.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 53 These Wormes they vnwinde with a Pinne and come out daintily. 1638N. Whiting Albino & Bellama Author to Bk. 48 Nor beg those niggards' eyes, who grudge to see A watch unwinded in perusing thee. 1810Encycl. Brit. (ed. 4) XX. 532/1 It is indeed difficult to determine the exact extent of the spiral vessels.., for it is by unwinding them alone that they can be known. 1834–6Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 641/2 At this instant the spring..is now unwound again.
fig.a1613Overbury Characters, Melancholy Man, His imagination..keeps his mind in a continuall motion, as the poise the clocke: he winds up his thoughts often, and as often unwinds them.
d. fig. To relieve from tension or anxiety, to cause to relax. colloq.
1958B. Malamud in Partisan Rev. Spring 180 He managed to unwind himself and relax. 1975‘W. Haggard’ Scorpion Tail ix. 131 They sat down..the almost neat whisky unwound her.
2. a. To roll, twist, or turn back the wrapping, bandaging, or covering of (a body, etc.); to unwrap. Also, to untwine thread from (a bobbin); to free (a person) from bonds, etc.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. viii. 27 Then, turning backe vnto that captiue thrall, Who all this while stood..bound,..He from those bands weend him to haue vnwound. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 20 b/2 He then vnwyndeth his needle, and openeth the lippes of the wounde. 1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Vocation 203 Can I thus (alas!) Rudely vnwinde me from the kinde embrace Of their deer arms. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 507/2 To unwind a bobbin so that the thread hanging from it is to be longer. 1902Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 585/1 In he [sc. a doctor] came,..and unwound and wound me again.
fig. and in fig. context.1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. iv, I would roule my selfe for this day, in troth, they should not vnwinde mee. 1697Congreve Mourn. Bride ii. ix, The conqueror is mine! In chains unseen I hold him by the heart, And can unwind or strain him as I please.
†b. refl. To free, disengage, or extricate (oneself) from an entanglement, difficulty, etc. Obs.
Chiefly employed in figurative contexts.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. 100 Out of these snares we shall easily vnwinde our selues, if we well consider [etc.]. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. iv. §2 To vnwinde themselues where the snares of glosing speech doe lye to intangle them. 1601? Marston Pasquil & Kath. (1878) ii. 370 Vnwinde thy selfe from out the Labyrinth Of gaping wonder. 1656W. Montagu Accompl. Wom. 63 Without the thrid that she gave, how could he [sc. Theseus] ever have unwinded himself out of those Mazes? 1691Norris Pract. Disc. 41 The Pythagoreans taught their disciples..that they must unwind themselves even from their very Bodies, if they would be good Philosophers. 1692Dryden Don Sebastian v. i, You could unwind your self from all these dangers. 1701Norris Ideal World i. vi. 412 To unwind ourselves from this intanglement.
3. intr. To undergo uncoiling or unwinding; to become free from a convoluted state. Also fig. and transf.
1656T. Watson One Thing Necess. 19 He is like a watch, when he hath been wound up towards heaven, he doth quickly unwinde to earth, and sinne again. 1681J. Scott Chr. Life i. iv. 385 Our holy Fervours will be very apt to cool, our good Purposes to slacken and unwind. 1707Mortimer Husb. 223 Put the Bottoms into clean scalding Water, and..then will they easily unwind. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxiii, Who loves, raves—'t is youth's frenzy—but the cure Is bitterer still, as charm by charm unwinds Which robed our idols. 1834–6Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 635/1 As the spring unwinds and acts with less power. 1839Bailey Festus 334 Would I might die outright! And slip the coil without waiting it unwind. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. x, She danced with a kind of passionate fierceness,..her round arms wreathing and unwinding.
b. fig. To obtain relief from tension or anxiety; to relax. colloq.
1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn iv. vii. 276 He was tired... If he'd ever unwound and relaxed, it would have been all over, he couldn't have lifted a finger. 1958Radio Times 3 Oct. 34/1 (Advt.), After interviews Edana finds she can ‘unwind’ with ‘Aspro’ and a cup of tea. 1982M. Russell Rainblast iii. 14 He loved the solitude.. Helped him unwind.
4. trans. To open up, to trace or retrace to an issue, outlet, or end. Also in fig. context.
1716Gay Trivia ii. 86 Still the wandring passes forc'd his stay, Till Ariadne's clue unwinds the way. 1744Young Nt. Th. vi. 162 How shall the blessed day of our discharge Unwind, at once, the labyrinths of fate. 1760Sterne Tr. Shandy iv. Slawkenb. Tale, The fifth act..terminates in unwinding the labyrinth and bringing the hero.. to a state of rest. 1864Bryant Little People of Snow 213 A cloud of twittering swallows..turn and wheel again, Unwinding their swift track.
fig.1821Bryant Ages viii, He whose eye Unwinds the eternal dances of the sky.
Hence unˈwinding vbl. n.
Also, in recent use (1915), unwinder.
1648Hexham ii, Een ontdraeyinge,..an Vnwinding. 1708Watts Horæ Lyricæ (1727) 161 The dull unwinding of Life's tedious Thread. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 13 The solution of all knots, and unwinding of all intricacies. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 515 The balance, having now all the velocity it would acquire from the unwinding the spring. 1866Mrs. Ritchie Village on Cliff xiv, The whole thing seemed running through her head like the unwinding of a skein. 1895Model Steam Engine 23 The unwinding of a reel of cotton. 1933H. G. Wells Bulpington of Blup ix. 398 He began..to play with himself that tedious parlour game known as ‘unwinding’. 1977A. Morice Scared to Death xiv. 94 There is something anti-climactic about going straight home..when the curtain comes down and it is quite pleasant to indulge in some gentle unwinding.
attrib.1889Sleeman Torpedoes (ed. 2) 235 The torpedo is launched, and the engine started which is to work the unwinding reels or drums. 1971D. Clark Sick to Death ii. 23 The unwinding part of the day when most people like to take their ease.
▪ II. unwind, v.2|ʌnˈwɪnd|
[un-2 4 + wind n.]
trans. To deprive (a person) of wind or breath.
1788Lond. Mag. 264 Here, as well as at the pit of the stomach you may unwind him. |