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unreeve

American  
[uhn-reev] / ʌnˈriv /

verb (used with object)

unrove, unreeved, unroven, unreeved, unreeving
  1. Nautical. to withdraw (a rope) from a block, thimble, etc.


verb (used without object)

unrove, unreeved, unroven, unreeved, unreeving
  1. to unreeve a rope.

  2. (of a rope) to become unreeved.

unreeve British  
/ ʌnˈriːv /

verb

  1. nautical to withdraw (a rope) from a block, thimble, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of unreeve

First recorded in 1590–1600; un- 2 + reeve 2


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

We had first to unreeve all the ropes, and unbend all the sails.

From Peter Trawl The Adventures of a Whaler by James Durden

Lower them down and let the falls unreeve, so that they will go adrift.

From The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility by Morgan Robertson

"The rope has swollen, sir, and the pendants won't unreeve," cried the middy in agony.

From A Simpleton by Charles Reade

At last, as I had repeatedly warned him, the mate singled him out one morning, and commanded him to mount to the main-truck, and unreeve the short signal halyards.

From Redburn. His First Voyage by Herman Melville

Do you, Walter, make a rope fast round the bits; unreeve the fore halliards, they will suit best, and are new and strong.

From Captain Mugford Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors by W. Herbert Holloway

As the Forward began to be weather-worn, the masts were unreeved, for they could no longer rely on the variable wind, and the sails were nearly useless in the winding channels.

From The English at the North Pole Part I of the Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne

In my next attempt I made sure of not coming by a similar accident, so I unreeved the tackling and fitted up larger blocks and ropes. 

From The Coral Island A Tale of the Pacific Ocean by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

Again and again the noose came back unreeved, and again and again the patient boy, with rare strength and skill, flung the ample noose over the slippery spires of ice.

From Adrift in the Ice-Fields by Charles W. Hall

The very manner in which the yards were crossed told as plainly of abandonment as unreeved blocks and slackened rigging betokened a careless indifference of her future.

From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake

Therefore they unreeved two long lines and attached them to the long-boat, one on each side.

From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various

Run your boat alongside of the capsized one's mast and strip its sail off, unfastening the throat and peak blocks, unreeving the sheet-rope, and cutting the lashings of the sail to the mast-hoops.

From Harper's Round Table, September 3, 1895 by Various

All this time, I was busily working, unreeving the port buntline.

From The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson

Also, the lug of the cascable is cut open to admit of the bight of the breeching falling into it, thus obviating the loss of time by unreeving.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher

At last they could hold out no longer, and Harry, unreeving the rope, descended to the water and brought up a hatful.

From The Young Berringtons The Boy Explorers by William Henry Giles Kingston

This he conveyed on deck, and, unreeving as much of the running-gear as he could get at, a good long warp was made by bending the whole together end to end.

From The Missing Merchantman by William Heysham Overend

Already a man had unrove the fore-signal-halyards, the sailors raised a shout and the coiled rope was thrown.

From The Tale of Timber Town by Alfred A. (Alfred Augustus) Grace

When they struck the water, the falls were instantly let go; and, as the boats drifted astern, the tackles unrove their long length from the blocks, and were hauled on board again.

From The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility by Morgan Robertson

The line, in the shape of the gaff-topsail halliard-fall, hastily unrove for the occasion, was soon forthcoming, and the hook, being at last baited to the second mate’s satisfaction, bent on to the chain.

From The Voyage of the Aurora by Harry Collingwood

To guard against the possibility of any of the party being swept away by the undertow, the halliards had been unrove and were used as a life-line.

From The Wireless Officer by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

A few stifled rats were found; and what bugs, cockroaches, fleas, and other vermin there might have been on board must have unrove their life-lines before the hatches were opened.

From Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

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