unreeve

English

Etymology

From Middle English *unreven (attested only in past participle unrevyn) equivalent to un- +‎ reeve.

Verb

unreeve (third-person singular simple present unreeves, present participle unreeving, simple past and past participle unreeved)

1. (transitive, nautical) To withdraw or take out, as for example a rope from a block.
   • 1896, F. Hopkinson Smith, Tom Grogan‎^[1]:

     He could not only splice a broken "fall," and repair the sheaves and friction-rollers in a hoisting-block, but whenever the rigging got tangled aloft he could spring up the derrick like a cat and unreeve the rope in an instant.

   • 1909, A. W. Dimock, Dick in the Everglades‎^[2]:

     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.

Related terms

• unreave

Anagrams

• Revenue, revenue