Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To loosen or undo the lacing or laces of.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To loose from lacing or fastening by a cord, string, band, or the like passed through loops, holes, etc.; open or unfasten by undoing or untying the lace of: as, to unlace a garment or a helmet.
  • To loosen or ease the dress or armor of.
  • To divest of due covering; expose to injury or damage.
  • To disentangle.
  • To carve.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To loose by undoing a lacing.
  • transitive verb To loose the dress of; to undress; hence, to expose; to disgrace.
  • transitive verb (Naut.) To loose, and take off, as a bonnet from a sail, or to cast off, as any lacing in any part of the rigging of a vessel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To remove the knot from laces; to undo laces.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb undo the ties of

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ lace.

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Examples

  • He wished he could unlace his fingers and lower his arms.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • He wished he could unlace his fingers and lower his arms.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • He always surrounded by his circus of courtiers wanders through the tiring rooms, easy in our company, stopping to chat here and there, and sometimes even helping an actress to unlace her gown.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • He wished he could unlace his fingers and lower his arms.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • He always surrounded by his circus of courtiers wanders through the tiring rooms, easy in our company, stopping to chat here and there, and sometimes even helping an actress to unlace her gown.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • The heart knows information that is positioned upon various cues: we first lay in bed with each other, fully clothed, breathing in scentless pheromones, dripping with the desire to be touched, and so fingers delicately lace and unlace swirling patterns on bare skin, elbows and the nape of the neck.

    Sleeping Tonight By the One You Love Amy Geeleher Burt 2011

  • But unlace me they did, rolling me out of the fetid jacket and upon the floor, an inert, helpless thing.

    Chapter 14 2010

  • "And I've made you unlace me, Captain, when you thought I was croaking, and it was all I could do to keep from snickering in your face."

    Chapter 11 2010

  • Now I had but one fear, namely, that they would unlace me; so that it must be understood that my reply was not uttered in braggadocio but was meant to forestall any possible unlacing.

    Chapter 11 2010

  • Saxon assented, but began immediately to unlace her shoes.

    CHAPTER VI 2010

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