[UN-2 5.]
1. Mil. To free (a gun) from the limber, by detaching and withdrawing this, preparatory to bringing the gun into action.
1802. James, Milit. Dict., s.v. Limber, A two-wheel carriage … taken off…; which is called unlimbering the guns.
1839. F. A. Griffiths, Artill. Man., 93. Square can only be formed when … both guns and waggons are unlimbered.
1879. C. R. Low, Jrnl. General Abbott, ii. 146. Abbott … unlimbered the 24-pounder howitzer.
fig. 1864. Trevelyan, Compet. Wallah (1866), 272. Then are the ‘English name,’ and the ‘development of the resources of India,’ unlimbered, and trundled out to overawe the … magistrates.
b. absol. To perform the operation of detaching and withdrawing the limber.
1828. Spearman, Brit. Gunner (ed. 2), 177. Unlimbering, or Coming into Action.
1875. Clery, Min. Tact., xi. 136. A H. A. battery … unlimbered and came into action.
transf. 1888. Harper’s Mag., Sept., 555/1. A travelling band which [was] … in the second class car, and which good-naturedly unlimbered at the stations.
2. To detach and withdraw the front-wheels of (a boat-carriage).
1853. Douglas, Milit. Bridges (ed. 3), 92. To launch the bateau, the carriage is placed with the pole towards the river, and unlimbered: by this means an inclined plane is formed.
