unknit

American  

[uhn-nit] / ʌnˈnɪt /

verb (used with object)

unknitted, unknit, unknitting

1. to untie or unfasten (a knot, tangle, etc.); unravel (something knitted); undo.

2. to weaken, undo, or destroy.

3. to smooth out (something wrinkled).

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verb (used without object)

unknitted, unknit, unknitting

1. to become undone.

unknit British  

/ ʌnˈnɪt /

verb

1. to make or become undone, untied, or unravelled

2. (tr) to loosen, weaken, or destroy

   to unknit an alliance

3. rare (tr) to smooth out (a wrinkled brow)

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Other Word Forms

• unknittable adjective

Etymology

Origin of unknit

before 1000; Middle English unknytten, Old English uncnyttan. See un- ², knit

Example Sentences

In the scorbutic body, as connective tissue fails, long-healed broken bones unknit themselves, and legs cramp so severely that the person cannot walk.

From Slate • Dec. 8, 2016

And now he unknit his black brows; looked down, smiling at me, and stroked my hair, as if well pleased at seeing a danger averted.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

I would he had continu'd to his country As he began, and not unknit himself The noble knot he made.

From Coriolanus by Shakespeare, William

Well, well, well "I would he had continued to his country As he began; and not unknit, himself, The noble knot he made."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, February 28, 1891 by Various

Joy comes and goes, hope ebbs and flows Like the wave; Change doth unknit the tranquil strength of men.

From Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold by Arnold, Matthew