v. [UN-2 5.] trans. To take or force out from the breast; to unbosom. Chiefly fig.
1559. Mirr. Mag. (1563), C vii. My fault wherein because mine vncle tolde … I found the meanes his bowels to vnbrest.
1603. Florio, Montaigne, I. xvii. 28. Feare then vnbreasts all wit, That in my minde did sit.
1631. P. Fletcher, Pisc. Eclogs, IV. xxiv. Could’st thou unmask their pomp, unbreast their heart, How would’st thou laugh at this rich beggerie! Ibid. (1633), Purple Isl., XII. lxiii. Out from his mouth a two-edg’d sword he darts;… And with his keenest point unbreasts the naked hearts.
Hence Unbreasted ppl. a.
1610. G. Fletcher, Christ’s Tri., II. xl. To whose open eye The hearts of wicked men unbrested lie.
