unloose
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From Middle English unlosen (“to loosen, untie; to uncover, unwrap; to extend; to free, liberate, release; to disengage; to detach oneself; to make (someone) weak; to abolish; to destroy”) [and other forms], from un- (intensifying prefix) + losen (“to free, let loose, release; to loosen, untie; to come undone or unfastened; to open; to relax; to remove; to melt; to resolve; to break up, disintegrate; to detach, disengage; to destroy; to say, tell; to absolve of sin”) (from los (“free; loose, untied; exempt; absolved of sin; inattentive, undisciplined; of the tongue: lacking restraint, unbridled; limp, weak; wavering”), from Old Norse lauss (“loose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to separate; to set free; to untie”)). The English word is analysable as un- (intensifying prefix) + loose. Compare Middle English unlesen (“to loosen, release”), from Old English onlīesan (“to release, deliver, liberate, unloose”).
Base: loose
Affixes: un-
Inflected forms:
form: unlooses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: unloosing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: unloosest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: unloosedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: unlooses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: unlooseth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: unloose
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: unloosing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: unloosed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: To loosen or undo (something that entangles, fastens, holds, or interlocks).
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
transitive
examples: Turne him to any Cauſe of Pollicy, / The Gordian Knot of it he will vnlooſe, / Familiar as his Garter: […]
[S]uch ſmiling rogues as theſe, / Like Rats oft bite the holy cords a twaine, / Which are t' intrince, t' vnlooſe: […]
[…] There commeth one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose ſhooes I am not worthy to ſtoupe downe, and vnlooſe.
Death opens the gate of fame, and ſhuts the gate of envy after it,—it unlooſes the chain of the captive, and puts the bondſman’s taſk into another man's hands.
I abide not the imposition of hands—take off your grasp from my cloak, or I will find means to make you unloose it.
Forgetting his disgust, Brice tore away the shirt and unloosed the belt. It was saturated with water like the rest of the clothing, but its pocket seemed heavy and distended. In another instant he had opened it, and discovered the envelope containing the packet of greenbacks, its seal still inviolate and unbroken. It was the stolen treasure!
[T]here was plenty of opportunity to modernise in the years up to 1939, but since then the Second World War and its aftermath of expenditure rigidly controlled by Government held up any progress until at last the purse-strings were unloosed five years ago. But an enormous amount of leeway needs to be made up.
gloss: To relax or slacken (something that clasps or grips, such as the arms or hands).
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
transitive
gloss: To free (someone or something) from a constraint; (figuratively) to release (something which has been suppressed, such as emotions or objectionable things).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Then Yorke vnlooſe thy long impriſoned thoughts, / And let thy tongue be equall with thy heart.
Thus did the melancholy Tale conclude, / And a ſhort, ſilent Interval ensu'd. / The next in Birth unlooſ'd her artful Tongue, / And drew attentive all the Siſter-Throng.
Press on! for it is godlike to unloose / The spirit, and forget yourself in thought; / Bending a pinion for the deeper sky, / And in the very fetters of your flesh, / Mating with the pure essences of heaven!
He would weep again, his heart insisted, for now his weeping had begun; he would rage again, said the shifting air, for the lions of rage had been unloosed; he would be in darkness again, in fire again, now that he had seen the fire and the darkness.
gloss: To remove or take off (especially something undesirable).
pos: verb
tags: archaic
transitive
gloss: To become loose or come off.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To free from a constraint.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
intransitive
Synonyms: unloosen
Derived words: unlooser
Translations: