unreeve
English
Etymology
From Middle English *unreven (attested only in past participle unrevyn) equivalent to un- + reeve.
Verb
unreeve (third-person singular simple present unreeves, present participle unreeving, simple past and past participle unreeved)
- (transitive, nautical) To withdraw or take out, as for example a rope from a block.
- (Can we date this quote?), F. Hopkinson Smith, Tom Grogan:
- He could not only splice a broken "fall," and repair the sheaves and friction-rollers in a hoisting-block, but whenever the rigging got tangled aloft he could spring up the derrick like a cat and unreeve the rope in an instant.
- 1909, A. W. Dimock, Dick in the Everglades:
- But he carried all sail till the rotten main-sheet parted at the boom, and when he came up in the wind to lower the sail the main throat halyard refused to unreeve.
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Related terms
- unreave
Anagrams
- Revenue, revenue