† Unbow

v. Obs. [UN-² 3.] trans. To unbend, to straighten.

1538.  Elyot, Decircino,… to vnbowe, or to bringe out of compasse, or roundenesse.

1621.  Quarles, Hadassa, ii. Wks. (Grosart), II. 57/2. Her lowly bended body she vnbow’d.

1653.  H. More, Antid. Ath., II. i. § 6. As in little pieces of Wood naturally bow’d like a Man’s Elbow, the Carver doth not unbow it but … shapes it into the Compleat Figure of a Man’s Arm.

  fig.  1639.  Fuller, Holy War, III. vi. (1840), 124. Because looking back would unbow his resolution.