v. [UN-2 3.]
1. trans. To undo the lace or laces of (a piece of armor, clothing, etc.); to unfasten, or loosen in this manner.
13[?]. Coer de L., 3171. A knyght hys armes gan unlace.
1388. Wyclif, Mark i. 7. Y am not worthi to … unlace his schoone.
c. 1400. Beryn, 2426. He vnlacyd his mantell.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xxiii. 69. He vnlaced his helme and gate hym wynde.
1590. C’tess Pembroke, Antonie, 1593. His armor he vnlaste, and cast it of.
1652. C. B. Stapylton, Herodian, 129. His Purple Coat he ’gins for to Unlace.
c. 1696. Prior, Love Disarmed, 12. Her Boddice hall way she unlac’d.
1731. Swift, Poems, Nymph going to Bed, 24. The lovely goddess Unlaces next her steel-rib’d bodice.
a. 1861. T. Woolner, My Beautiful Lady, Night, x. I wonder whether She now her braided opulent hair unlace.
1885. Law Rep., 15 Q.B.D. 360. The belts … could be removed from the shafting altogether by being unrivetted or unlaced.
1888. J. Payn, Myst. Mirbridge, viii. She instantly busied herself … in unlacing her boots.
b. In fig. context, or transf.
c. 1400. Beryn, 67. [He] pryuelich vnlasid his both eyen liddes, And lokid hir in the visage.
c. 1422. Hoccleve, Min. Poems, 224/231. The feruence Of loue … Was qweynt, & loues knotte was vnlaced.
1593. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super., 69. Thou mightest haue knowen him, that can Vnbutton thy vanity, and Vnlase thy folly.
a. 1699. J. Beaumont, Psyche, XVI. xvii. Unlace my nerves, and try My finest tenderest membranes to unpin.
c. Naut. (See quot. 1769.) Also absol.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 16. The Wind blows a fresh Gale…. Unlease your Bonnets.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), Délacer la bonnette, to unlace or take off the bonnet from the foot of a sail.
1727. Cook, Second Voyage, III. ii. II. 18. [To] unlace that part of the sail from the yard which is between the tack and mast-head.
1886. R. C. Leslie, Sea-painter’s Log, iii. 41. With bonnet-pieces … made to unlace instead of reef.
2. To free or relieve (a person, the body, etc.) by undoing a lace or laces. Also refl. and absol.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 3200. Þe quen kauȝt a knif & komli hire-selue william & his worþi fere swiftli vn-laced out of þe hidous hidus.
a. 1400. Sir Perc., 786. Gawayne doun lyghte, Unlacede the rede knyghte.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxxi. 42. My lorde, vn-lase you to lye, Here schall none come for to crye.
a. 1524. W. Cornyshe, in Early XVI. Cent. Lyrics, lxii. 45. Ther wyth reuyued sche, and her smalle wast ful fast vnlast.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. xii. She lay for dead, till I helpt with vnlasing her.
1648. Herrick, Hesper. (title), Upon Julia’s unlacing her self.
c. 1680. Roxb. Ball. (1891), VII. 459. Do no less, then undress, and unlace, all a-pace.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v. Swoon, To make him lie on his Back, to unbutton or unlace.
1889. Spectator, 9 Nov., 635/1. Showin’ their tongues Or unlacin’ their lungs, For divle one symptom the docther disparages.
transf. c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., VII. 26. If al the lond attonys rody grete, Enclyne, and thonke vnlaced so for hete.
1762. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VI. xi. As if he had snatched the occasion of unlacing himself with a few more frolicsome strokes at vice, than the straitness of the pulpit allowed.
† 3. To cut up or carve (in later use spec. a rabbit); to cut off in carving. Obs.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1606. A wyȝe þat was wys vpon wod craftez, To vnlace þis bor lufly bigynnez.
c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 410. Furst, vn-lace þe whynges, þe legges þan in sight.
c. 1486. Bk. St. Albans, F vij b. A Cony vnlaceedde.
1508. W. de Worde, Bk. Keruynge, A j b. Vnlace that cony.
1618. Breton, Court & Country, Wks. (Grosart), II. 13/1. A Trencher must not be laid, nor a … Capon carued, nor a Rabbet vnlaced out of order.
a. 1661. Holyday, Juvenal (1673), 78. ’Tis no small difference, with what gesture men of art vnlace a hare and spoil a hen.
1687. J. Shirley, Accomp. Ladies Rich Closet Rarities, 52. In unlacing a Coney, Turn the belly upwards, cutting the belly-pieces from the kidneys.
1771. Mrs. Haywood, New Present for Maid, 269. To unlace a Rabbit.
† 4. To disentangle, unravel. Obs.–1
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., III. pr. xii. (1868), 105. Scornest þou me … þat hast so wouen me wiþ þi resouns, þe house of didalus so entrelaced, þat it is vnable to ben vnlaced.
† 5. fig. a. To undo or destroy; to deprive of something. Obs.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 2456. Of his honour, vntrouthe a knyght vnlaceth. Ibid., 3652. Dignite had ben vnlaced And vngirt of honour.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., etc., Q j b. Milesian maydes, your steppes I mean to trace, And as Lucrecia did, my lyfe for to vnlace.
1604. Shaks., Oth., II. iii. 194. What’s the matter That you vnlace your reputation thus.
† b. To disclose, reveal. Obs.
1567. Painter, Pal. Pleas., II. xiii. (1890), II. 301. I purpose, then, to vnlace the dissolute lyues of three Amorouse Dames.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., etc., R iv b. Wherefore if my penne were able, well might I here vnlace my loyaltie.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, Ded. (Arb.), 7. Yt may bee … I shal bee occasioned … too vnlace more of theese mysteries.
† c. To relax or loosen; to set free. Obs.
1610. G. Fletcher, Christ’s Tri., II. xlii. An intire embrace That no satietie can ere unlace.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, II. iv. 48. These Hospitallers afterwards getting wealth, unlaced themselves from the strictnesse of their first Institution.
6. To strip of lace.
1598. Florio, Disfrangiare, to vnfringe, to vnlase.
