α. see un- prefix2 and clew v.
β. see un- prefix2 and clue v.
† uncluev.
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To undo, unwind; to reveal, open up. Also figurative: to ruin. Also reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > make poor or impoverish [verb (transitive)]
destroy1297
poverisha1382
apoora1400
impover1418
poora1425
dispurveyc1430
impoverish1440
beggar1528
weaken1530
ruinate1547
ruin1560
depauper1562
depoverish1569
craze1573
soak1577
sift1591
waste1599
impoor1613
uncluea1616
depauperate1623
disenrich1647
necessitate1647
erumnate1676
straiten1699
poorify1711
pauperize1806
pauperate1839
pauper1841
to clear out1884
immiserate1956
penny-pincha1961
immiserize1971
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > untwist, unravel, etc.
untwinec1407
unlacea1450
untwindc1460
untwist1538
unweave1542
distwine1562
feaze1568
unpleat1572
unspin1587
unplat1589
unwreathe1591
unreave1593
unravel1603
ravel1607
unwrithe1611
uncluea1616
unwork1623
unperplex1660
untwirla1703
unlay1726
disentwine1814
unbraid1828
unmesha1849
disintertwine1861
unplait1865
tiffle out1880
unleeze1889
α.
β. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. To Vulgar Who is he, that can be so happy, as to vnclue himselfe from this Labyrinth?1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ To Rdr. sig. A3 They [sc. letters] can the Cabinets of Kings unscrue, And hardest intricacies of State unclue.1686 W. Clenche St Peter's Supremacy ii. i. 67 I think no Point stands more in need of an Assistant Hand to unclue its Intricacies.1806 Morning Post 26 Sept. Our Nation's foes lament on Fox's death, But bless the hour, when Pitt resign'd his breath; These feelings wide, let Sense and Truth unclue.a1924 M. Ghose Coll. Poems (1970) 247 Your sore tried excellence of heart, Your steadfast heart, he knew And chanted how the day-wrought web You did by night unclue.a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. i. 172 If I should pay you for't as 'tis extold, It would vnclew me quite. View more context for this quotation
1681 T. D'Urfey Progr. Honesty xvii. 21 Cherishing noble Loyalty, Till Fate unclews Mortality.
1797 T. Sheridan Compl. Dict. Eng. Lang. (ed. 2) To unclew, to undo.
1836 G. P. R. James Darnley (new ed.) II. xv. 195 He scattered the frightened Portuguese and impassible Dutchmen, who were unclewing ropes and disentangling knots.
1876 A. J. Evans Through Bosnia ii. 52 Pray do not let false delicacy or closed doors deter you from unclewing the inmost mysteries of the bed-chamber!
2. transitive. Chiefly Nautical. To let down the clews or lower corners of (a sail or similar piece of canvas).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > set or spread (sails) > unfurl > let down clews
unclue1797
to clew down1840
1797 W. Nicol Sc. Forcing Gardener vii. 96 Two people can unclew and hoist, or let down and clew, the whole in fifteen minutes.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 384 Take your seats upon the banks; Unclew the sails with speed.
1899 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 197 The sailboat..lay alongside the wooden pier, with ballast stowed amidships and her mutton-ham unclewed.
1912 Evening Tribune (Marysville, Ohio) 14 June One on 'em was at the wheel, another had lashed himself to the riggin' tryin' to unclew a sail, another was layin' over the fo'castle, and so on—all dead.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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