unloosenv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈluːsn/, U.S. /ˌənˈlus(ə)n/ transitive. = unloose v. (in various senses). Also intransitive (cf. unloose v. 5).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > from confinement
unbindc950
to let freec1000
aletOE
to let out1154
loosea1225
slakec1374
loosen1382
to let goc1384
releasec1384
unloosec1400
unlockc1410
dissolvec1420
relievec1450
unloosen?a1475
to set at liberty1509
enlargea1513
to let at large1525
to let loose1530
to turn loose?1566
enfranchise1569
to turn up1573
enfranch1581
unkennel1589
unwind1596
to cast loosec1600
disimmure1611
disimprison1611
unhamper1620
to let abroad1633
unfold1633
disencloister1652
disencage1654
discagea1657
disincarcerate1665
eliminate1745
unspherea1806
unmew1818
unbottle1821
uncage1837
unbag1854
bust1921
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)]
unbindc950
undoc950
unleeseOE
breaka1225
unfest?c1225
leesea1325
loosena1382
unloosea1382
loose1388
resolvea1398
unlace?c1400
unfastenc1440
unloosen?a1475
to let slip1526
unbrace?1526
diffibulatea1538
unframe1567
unclit1587
undight1590
unclip1598
unclenchc1600
unreeve1600
unlock1609
ungrapple1611
unquilt1611
abstringe1623
renode1623
unspan1648
unfast1684
disengage1780
undub1807
unclap1846
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > free from restraint > the lips, tongue, or heart
unspen?c1225
loosec1390
unseala1586
loosen1645
unslip1802
unloosen1845
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 237 (MED) There xul ȝe ffyndyn..An Asse tyed... Vn-losne þat Asse and brynge it to me.
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. cv. f. 78, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe But forget not the nexte day after hys discording to vnlosen the liste, and to take it away.
1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. J. F. Senault Man become Guilty 335 God..would..teach us that accidents might be unloosened from their substance.
1746 D. Hume Let. 4 Oct. (1932) I. 97 He beg'd of me to unloosen his Bandage & hasten his Death.
1782 V. Knox Ess. I. ii. 11 Fix them [sc. religious principles] deeply in your bosom, and let them go with you unloosened and unaltered to the grave.
1845 J. T. Goodsir in Church of Scotl. Pulpit I. 248 Whose power..unloosened the dumb tongue of conscience.
1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 189 Ankle chains..riveted together,..never to be unloosened night nor day.
1917 B. Hecht Mob in Mother Earth May 93 The policeman who was holding him unloosened his hand.
1947 R. Bradbury Cistern in October Country (1999) 296 Her hair..unloosens and opens out like a flower in the water.
2014 Nanaimo (Brit. Columbia) Daily News (Nexis) 6 Jan. a8 If the desire and willingness to get your hands dirty and sometimes bloodied while trying to unloosen rusted bolts..isn't in you, then you should consider another line of work.
Derivatives
unˈloosening n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > [noun]
undoinga1425
leesingc1440
loosing1482
dissolution1548
unlocking1568
unloosing1578
loosening1598
unbinding1598
untying1598
abstriction1650
unclenching1688
unclinching1688
apoptosis1749
unreeving1775
unloosening1793
1793 J. Wilde Addr. Soc. Friends of People 413 They perished in her [sc. France's] overthrow, when she was thus lifted out of her place, in this great unloosening of her foundations.
1867 E. S. Purcell in Ess. Relig. & Lit. 2nd Ser. 476 Everything tends..to the unloosening of all bonds between society and the Church.
1936 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 22 Feb. 1/2 This unloosening in some way affected the trousers, which immediately started to respond to the law of gravity.
2014 Sun (Nexis) 21 Aug. 57 Unless there is an unloosening of the purse strings and an addressing of the real on-field problems then United are heading in only one direction.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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