ungird

American  

[uhn-gurd] / ʌnˈgɜrd /

verb (used with object)

ungirded, ungirt, ungirding

1. to loosen or remove a girdle or belt from.

2. to loosen or remove by unfastening a belt.

   to ungird a sword.

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Etymology

Origin of ungird

before 900; Middle English ungirden, Old English ungyrdan; see un- ², gird ¹; cognate with German entgürten

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ungird ungirded ungirding ungirt

I prithee now, ungird thy strangeness, and tell me what I shall vent to my lady; shall I vent to her that thou art coming?

From Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, William

Great ocean, was your mighty calm unstirred As through your depths, unseen, unheard, Sped on its way the glorious word That called a weary nation to ungird, And sheathed once more the keen, reluctant sword?

From Bees in Amber A Little Book of Thoughtful Verse by Oxenham, John

I prithee now, ungird     thy strangeness, and tell me what I shall vent to my lady.

From Twelfth Night; or What You Will by Shakespeare, William

Then he turned to Zbyszko: "But will you not ungird yourself and sing a little?"

From The Knights of the Cross or, Krzyzacy by Binion, Samuel A.

"Uncover your heads, ungird your garments and cast the bones of your mother behind you."

From Myths and Legends of All Nations Famous Stories from the Greek, German, English, Spanish, Scandinavian, Danish, French, Russian, Bohemian, Italian and other sources by Marshall, Logan

"Discinct" is good, but "ungirded" is better because it is not obsolete, and it is more sonorous and Saxon.

From Unicorns by Huneker, James

Undine, on entering her bedroom late that evening, was startled by the presence of a muffled figure which revealed itself, through the dimness, as the ungirded midnight outline of Mrs. Spragg.

From The Custom of the Country by Wharton, Edith

The sword he soon ungirded / and quiver laid aside, The mighty spear he leanéd / against the linden-tree: Beside the running fountain / stood the knight stately to see.

From The Nibelungenlied Translated into Rhymed English Verse in the Metre of the Original by Needler, George Henry

Then after Sir Launcelot had thus eaten he said, "I am aweary," and therewith he arose and ungirded his armor, and laid it aside, piece by piece, even to the very last piece thereof.

From The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions by Pyle, Howard

Yatsek ungirded his sabre, drew it out of the scabbard, looked at the edge by the light of the chimney, and fell to rubbing the blade with his handkerchief.

From On the Field of Glory An Historical Novel of the Time of King John Sobieski by Sienkiewicz, Henryk

And ungirding his sword, he knelt down before Philippe, and did homage to him, asking his assistance to re-establish his rights.

From Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

He sat down upon the ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his vestments, did not remember to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun.

From The Lady of the Lake by Scott, Walter, Sir

She wore a dark, shapeless, ungirt robe covered with patches and stains.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

This was not the indecision of a man weighing the responsibilities of a step which might ruin the life of another man; it was merely the futility of "the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin."

From Destiny by Buck, Charles Neville

It is a moot point how far the extremely loose and ungirt character of this style, which sometimes, and indeed often, reaches sheer slovenliness and solecism, was intentional.

From The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Sterne, Laurence

In it too were the twin sons of Antiope, daughter of Asopus, Amphion and Zethus, and Thebe still ungirt with towers was lying near, whose foundations they were just then laying in eager haste.

From The Argonautica by Seaton, R. C. (Robert Cooper)

Certainly to Satan there could never be imputed the sin of "the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin."

From Milton by Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir