unclew
verbEtymology From un- + clew.
1
Also, Archaic, Figuratively To unwind, unfold, unravel or untie.
- unclewing ropes and disentangling knots1830, George Payne Rainsford James, Darnley: Or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold:
- unclewing the inmost mysteries of the bed-chamber1877, Arthur Evans, Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot during the Insurrection, August and September 1875:
1 more example
- unclew the topmost canvas, the skysails, and the brig's royals1931, Francis van Wyck Mason, Captain Judas:
2
Archaic, Figuratively To undo; to ruin.
- If I should pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd, It would unclew me quitec. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]: