1. intr. To come out of curl; to unfold from a curved or spiral form.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., II. iii. 34. My fleece of Woolly haire, that now vncurles, Euen as an Adder when she doth vnrowle.
1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, Introd. 8. Cling to my necke, and wrists, my louing wormes, And cast you round, in soft and amorous foulds, Till I doe bid, vncurle.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 693. The Furies harken, and their Snakes uncurl.
1827. Hood, Hero & Leander, lxiii. His uncrispt locks uncurling in the brine.
1873. ‘Ouida,’ Pascarèl, II. 162. The green corn uncurling underneath the blossoming vines.
2. trans. To take out of curl; to untwist.
1598. Florio, Discrespare, to vncurle, to vnfrizle, to vncrispe.
1687. Dryden, Hind & P., III. 270. He sheathes his paws, uncurls his angry mane. Ibid. (1697), Æneis, V. 167. The raging billows … Uncurl their ridgy backs, and at his foot appear.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, xvi. On the other side sate Isabella,… her long hair uncurled by the evening damps.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, i. A black servant, who reposed on the box beside the fat coachman, uncurled his bandy legs.
1887. M. Arnold, Kaiser Dead, x. I see the tail,… In moments of disgrace uncurl’d, Then at a pardoning word refurl’d.
refl. 1606. Dekker, Seuen Deadly Sinnes, 32. The vgliest Serpent hath not vncurld himselfe.
1884. Nonconf. & Indep., 5 June, 545/1. The bracken has not yet uncurled itself.
