unˈfeather, v.
[un-2 4 and 7.]
1. trans. To strip of feathers; to unplume.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 124/2 To vn-Fedyr, expennare, explumare. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 116/2 He so handled the matter, that he had vnfethered him of his best friends, aids, and helps. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. x. 236, I will love him that shall trace, or vnfeather me. a 1639 T. Carew Poems Wks. (1824) 79 Love lent thee wings to flye, so hee Unfeather'd, now must rest with mee. 1681 Rycaut tr. Gracian's Critick 183 None are here of those who can..unfeather our Nests, whilst they enwrap us in the quilts. 1769 Colman Oxonian in Town i. 8 Ay, ay, we'll unfeather the whole nest in time. 1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 34 The foam..is a goose-quill That feathers—unfeathers—itself. |
2. intr. To lose the feathers.
| 1849 J. A. Carlyle tr. Dante's Inf. 202 When poor Icarus felt his loins unfeather by the heating of the wax. |