unlimbv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈlɪm/, U.S. /ˌənˈlɪm/ Now rare.
transitive. To remove or cut the limbs from; to dismember. Also figurative and in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > execute [verb (transitive)] > dismember
unlimbc1440
c1440 (?c1380–1400) Of Shrifte & Penance (St. John's Cambr. G. 30) (1998) 49 A man þat..sweryth by God horribly, by diuerse lymes of God, as foles doth..sweryth grete bycause of courteisie & gentrize. But hyt is gret vyleynye so for to vnlyme Ihesus Crist.
?1606 R. Barret Sacred Warre (Bodl. Add. C. 281) i. 15 Whilst that Median scymytar Unlyms the Christian knight, dooth christian Curtelax Unhead the Median horsman.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. liii. 208 Batter 'em, burst 'em, quarter 'em, unlimb 'em,..these wicked Heretics.
a1765 W. Dunkin Select Poet. Wks. (1770) II. 15 Full fit he was to head a troop Of horse..But Mrs. D—— with her hoop Unlimb'd him.
1869 J. Conington tr. Horace Satires (1874) 17 Still The bard remains, unlimb him as you will.
1894 G. F. Atherton Before Gringo Came vii. 82 The very people in the streets are ready to unlimb us.
1991 P. Lyons Going for Broke xiii. 141 Stunts unlimbs it [sc. a pig]..lays the carcass gutted and clean on whittled sticks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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