unyoke

American  

[uhn-yohk] / ʌnˈyoʊk /

verb (used with object)

unyoked, unyoking

1. to free from or as if from a yoke.

2. to part or disjoin, as by removing a yoke.

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verb (used without object)

Obsolete.

unyoked, unyoking

1. to remove a yoke.

2. to cease work.

unyoke British  

/ ʌnˈjəʊk /

verb

1. to release (an animal, etc) from a yoke

2. (tr) to set free; liberate

3. (tr) to disconnect or separate

4. archaic (intr) to cease working

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Etymology

Origin of unyoke

before 1000; Middle English unyoken, Old English ungeocian. See un- ², yoke ¹

Example Sentences

And when the dark night was coming on, Conchubar said to his people, “It is best for us to unyoke the chariots now, and to look for some place where we can spend the night.”

From The Irish Fairy Book by Various

Uncle was so surprised to see such a lot at one drag, that he told the men to unyoke the oxen, and that they could dress and fry fish the rest of the day.

From A Trip to California in 1853 Recollections of a Gold Seeking Trip by Ox Train across the Plains and Mountains by an Old Illinois Pioneer by Bailey, Washington

Let us unyoke it from tradition, which claims to be superior, or even equal. 

From The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 by Wild, Joseph

But I must go home at all events, you know, sir, to unyoke my two horses, and put them up, and to inform Chirsty Halliday, my wife, of my engagement.

From The Shepherd's Calendar Volume I (of II) by Hogg, James

Buck excitedly insisted that we must not unyoke the cattle.

From Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail by Wilson, F. N. (Frederick N.)