| 释义 |
unˈsheathe, v.
[un-2 4, 5.]
1. trans. To dislodge.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 776 Than shal no mete or drynk come in me, Til I my soule out of my breste vnsheþe. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 1724 She sheated in her harmless breast A harmful knife, that thence her soul unsheathed.
2. To draw (a weapon) out of the sheath or scabbard. to unsheathe the sword, to begin hostilities or slaughter. (Cf. sheathe v. 2.)
a1542Wyatt Ps. xxxvii. 41 They have unsheathed eke their bloudye brands. a1547Surrey æneis iv. 774 Aeneas..his glistering sword unshethes,..[and] the cabels cut in twaine. 16001st Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle v. x. 78 Wherefore were your sharpe edgde kniues vnsheathde? 1649Milton Eikon. ix. 78 Never was King less in danger of any violence from his Subjects, till he unsheath'd his Sword against them. 1683Waller Invasion of Turks 60 Unsheathing the destructive sword. 1807J. Barlow Columb. vi. 686 Are these..the swords Thy hand unsheath'd and gave the savage hordes? 1884A. R. Pennington Wiclif v. 176 The sword of the persecutor would be unsheathed against him.
fig. and transf.1692A. Pitcairne Babell 287 He did his trustie tongue unsheath... It was a blade that he could trust. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VII. 335 Nature has furnished her [sc. the grasshopper] with an instrument at her tail,..which she can sheathe and unsheathe at pleasure. 1810Southey Kehama xvi. xiv, The Beast.., His mouth half-open, and his teeth unsheath'd. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxvii, A tame leopard, whose claws might be unsheathed..at any moment.
3. To take out of, strip of, a sheath or covering. Also fig. and refl.
1638N. Whiting Albino & Bellama 2275 At time of rest her body she unsheathed, And housed within the linen walls her limbs. 1664H. Power Exp. Philos. i. 30 If you unsheath her body, and take off her spotted short crustaceous wings. 1875Sears Serm. & Songs 6 When our spiritual senses are first unsheathed. 1893J. Pulsford Loyalty to Christ II. 225 Sing for joy;..and others will be moved to unsheathe themselves of their wintry earthliness.
4. intr. ‘To come out from a sheath’ (Cent. Dict.).
Hence unˈsheathing vbl. n.
1611Cotgr., Desgaine, an vnsheathing..of a weapon. 1823Lamb Elia ii. Old Margate Hoy, Whistling to the sheathing and unsheathing of their cutlasses. 1871Macduff Mem. Patmos 152 The unsheathings of that terrible sword. |
