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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:

Jump down, all of you, and lend a hand and unreeve the halliards from the mast and bind her as tight as you can to the branches; pass the ropes under the thwarts.

From Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California by H. M. (Henry Marriott) Paget

To unreeve the running part of top-sail sheets, &c., to let them run freely, or for harbour duty.

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

But he carried all sail till the rotten main-sheet parted at the boom, and when he came up in the wind to lower the sail the main throat halyard refused to unreeve.

From Dick in the Everglades by A. W. Dimock

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

“You can unreeve the tops’l halyards,” replied the captain, quietly.

From Saved by the Lifeboat by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

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

Yet it pleased God to allay the fury of the storm, and we unreeved our sheets, tacks, halyards, and other ropes, and made fast our ship to the trees on shore, close by the rocks.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10 Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time. by Robert Kerr

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

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

From The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson

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

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

Then, I set them to work unreeving the gear and making things snug for setting up our jury-masts, of which this is the first—a downright seamanlike piece of work I call it.”

From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by J. Schonberg

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

This coil is the main signal halliards, which I have unrove for the purpose—they are better than new, for they have been stretched and have had the kinks taken out of them.

From The Castaways by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale

I did what was far more likely to prove effectual—I unrove the peak-halliards, cutting them clear with my knife, and fastened one end to the wooden grating over the cabin sky-light.

From Peter Trawl The Adventures of a Whaler by James Durden

The ropes were then unrove and secured to another rock or tree.

From Dick Onslow Among the Redskins by George Soper

Hereupon he rapidly unrove the cord and coiled it away in the bosom of his shirt.

From Captain Brand of the "Centipede" A Pirate of Eminence in the West Indies: His Love and Exploits, Together with Some Account of the Singular Manner by Which He Departed This Life by H. A. (Henry Augustus) Wise

It was the same which they had used in projecting their tree-bridge across the crevasse; and which they had long ago unrove from its pulleys, and brought home to the hut.

From The Cliff Climbers A Sequel to "The Plant Hunters" by Mayne Reid

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