1587 Ld. Buckhurst Let. 30 Apr. in H. Brugmans Correspondentie van Robert Dudley (1931) II. 238 The enemy is nether sleping nor unpreparing his forces.

1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Sparecchiare, to vngarnish, to vnprepare, to vndecke.

1764 J. Randall Semi-Virgilian Husbandry viii. 172 It is only preparing and unpreparing the ground.

1889 Gleanings Bee Culture Nov. 848/1 We never said we could prepare a swarm, load it, go five miles, unload, unprepare it, all in four minutes.

1965 Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 17 Feb. After getting them [sc. children] prepared to go outside, and then unpreparing them when they came in—she wondered if it was worth it all.

2000 K. McCarthy tr. Plautus in Slaves, Masters, & Art of Authority in Plautine Comedy iii. 103 I'll go inside so that I can season to my taste what another chef has cooked up, and to unprepare what has been prepared.

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 36 Nothing more unhallows a man, more unprepares him to the service of God in any duty.

1713 W. Law Serm. 30 It [sc. Resisting and Deposing our Prince] unprepares a Man for anything that's Loyal.

1788 J. Wesley Serm. Several Occasions VIII. 147 No business..can hinder any man..unless it be such as unprepares him for heaven.

1803 Parl. Reg. IV. 49 A system..which tended to unnerve and unprepare the minds of the people for the crisis which they were to meet.

1852 C. J. Lever Maurice Tiernay iii. 19/1 The gloom of the place..equally unprepared me for what was to come.

1921 Printers' Ink 7 Apr. 8/1 The extravagance of these men during prosperous times unprepares them for the lean days which always follow.

2001 L. Brady Bad Date viii. 61 None of us wants to believe that the likes of Hannibal Lector exist outside the movies, but they do. And there's something that totally unprepares you for a homegrown freak.