unmufflev.
/ˌʌnˈmʌfl/, U.S. /ˌənˈməf(ə)l/ 1. † b. transitive. figurative and in figurative contexts. Also intransitive. Obsolete.
a. transitive (and reflexive). To remove something which muffles or conceals the face. Also intransitive. Cf. muffle n.1 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (reflexive)] > divest of specific garments
unmuffle1579
unrobe1598
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (transitive)] > strip or undress a person > divest of specific garments > other
stripc1422
unwimplec1430
unhose1483
unmuffle1579
ungarter1594
unrobe1598
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (transitive)] > take off clothing > specific garments
avalec1330
vailc1450
to gather offc1460
strip1607
unmufflea1652
to strip up1664
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 249 Then Martius vnmuffled him selfe.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Desaffubler, to vnmuffle, vnhood, vnhoodwinke.
1629 W. Davenant Trag. Albovine iv. i Were my lean Iaws unmuffled you should see me mump.
a1652 R. Brome Queen & Concubine iv. iv. 89 in Five New Playes (1659) Take off his false beard:..And let the woman be unmuffled.
1709 W. Oldisworth Dial. Timothy & Philatheus I. 123 There are those of the other Sex in the Hay Market, that would soon unmuffle, and be no longer Hypocrites.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. 181 He muffled up my head all round as with the hood of a great coat... In this guise he held me some time... He then unmuffled and let me go.
1830 J. W. Warter tr. Aristophanes Birds in tr. Aristophanes Acharnians 941 Pisthetærus. What means this? What muffling is this? Prometheus. After a while I will unmuffle.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice II. vii. iv. 326 The rest..unmuffled themselves of cloaks.
1851 N. Hawthorne Twice-told Tales II. i. 21 ‘Villain, unmuffle yourself!’ cried he.
1920 P. Mackaye Sam Average in M. G. Mayorga Representative One-act Plays 18 In the shadow of the flag, the Figure unmuffles for an instant.
1956 B. Chute Greenwillow xii. 143 ‘Here's Dorrie, ma’, said Martha, unmuffling Gramma from a blanket.
1997 N. Mackay Spoken in Whispers vi. 69 I managed to unmuffle my face and turn my head.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or reveal [verb (transitive)]
unwryc825
unhelec1000
to draw forthc1175
unhillc1200
to bring forth?c1225
unsteekc1250
let witc1275
uncovera1300
wraya1300
knowc1300
barea1325
shrivec1374
unwrapc1374
again-covera1382
nakena1382
outc1390
tellc1390
disclosea1393
cough1393
unhidea1400
unclosec1400
unhaspc1400
bewrayc1405
reveal1409
accusea1413
reveil1424
unlocka1425
unrekec1425
disclude?1440
uncurec1440
utter1444
detect1447
break1463
expose1483
divinec1500
revelate1514
to bring (also put) to light1526
decipher1529
rake1547
rip1549
unshadow1550
to lay to sight1563
uppen1565
unlace1567
unvisor?1571
resign1572
uncloak1574
disshroud1577
spill1577
reap1578
unrip1579
scour1585
unharboura1586
unmask1586
uncase1587
descrya1591
unclasp?1592
unrive1592
discover1594
unburden1594
untomb1594
unhusk1596
dismask1598
to open upc1600
untruss1600
divulge1602
unshale1606
unbrace1607
unveil1609
rave1610
disveil1611
unface1611
unsecret1612
unvizard1620
to open up1624
uncurtain1628
unscreen1628
unbare1630
disenvelop1632
unclothe1632
to lay forth1633
unshroud1633
unmuffle1637
midwife1638
dissecret1640
unseal1640
unmantle1643
to fetch out1644
undisguise1655
disvelop1658
decorticate1660
clash1667
exert1692
disinter1711
to up with1715
unbundlea1739
develop1741
disembosom1745
to open out1814
to let out1833
unsack1846
uncrown1849
to bring (out) in (also into) the open1861
unfrock1866
disbosom1868
to blow the lid off1928
flush1950
surface1955
to take or pull the wraps off1964
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (intransitive)] > remove specific garments > other
discalceate1609
unmuffle1637
unglove1797
unboot1812
unshawl1817
to drop trou1968
1637 J. Milton Comus 12 Vnmuffle yee faint stars, and thou fair moon..Stoope thy pale visage through an amber cloud.
1649 J. Lightfoot Battell with Waspes Nest 2 I durst appeal to Mr Hemings own conscience if unmuffled or not altogether ignorant.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila xi. lxxii. 202 Unmuffle, ye dim Clouds, and disinherit From black usurping Mysts his Spirit.
1688 Marquis of Halifax Char. Trimmer 28 'Twill be worth his pains to see if he [sc. a papist] can unmuffle himself from the Mask of Infallibility.
1771 J. Dove Vindic. Hebrew Script. 33 When they understand the mechanical process of the natural agents in bursting the bladder, it cannot fail to unmuffle them.
1882 Nature 22 June 169/1 Results which have done more than any other to unmuffle the young science of psychology from the swaddling clothes of its mediaeval nursery.
1886 W. Alexander St. Augustine's Holiday 137 And darkness was unmuffled, and was ripp'd Like crape from heaven's jewell'd hilt.
2. transitive. To remove something which deadens or dampens the sound of (something which is normally loud, esp. a drum or bell). Also figurative. Cf. muffle n.1 2, muffle v.1 4a.
ΚΠ
1760 tr. A. Hamilton Select Tales I. 212 As he was not willing she should go too far, and yet have liberty to feed where she liked, he unmuffled all her bells, that he might hear her wherever she went.
1802 W. Coxe Mem. Horatio Walpole xxxiii. 362 The duke..sent an aid-de-camp to unmuffle the bells, and to threaten Swift with an arrest should any riot be excited.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Unmuffle,..2. To remove the muffling of a drum.
1929 Mod. Lang. Notes 44 351 The narrator of this story one Sunday goes with a companion into the lofty belfry of the village church to unmuffle the bell.
1989 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 12 July 2 c That must include releasing without preconditions Mr. Mandela and other political prisoners,..unmuffling the press and starting genuine negotiations with credible black leaders.
2005 H. Martin & K. Waters Jazz (ed. 2) I. ii. 43 When returning from the graveyard, the band would unmuffle the drum and launch into up-tempo, jazzlike popular compositions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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