▪ I. unˈdoing, vbl. n.1
[f. undo v.]
† 1. Exposition; interpretation. Obs.
| a 1330 Seuyn Sages (W.) 2352 He scholde..brenge a besaund to offring, And of his sweuen have undoing. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xl. 8 And Joseph seide to hem, Whether not of God is the vndoyng? c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. iv. xxvi. 2576 Discripcion is wrytynge In til our propyr vndoynge. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 365/1 Ondoynge, or expownynge, exposicio. |
2. The action of opening, unfastening, taking apart, loosening, etc.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 477 Of þat ee þe vndoynge Is of oure harte & vndirstandinge. a 1400 Pauline Ep. (Powell) 1 Cor. vii. 27 If þou art bowndyn to a wif, seeke þou not vndoyng. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 365/1 Ondoynge, or opynynge of schettellys, or sperellys, apercio. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hunting e iii, Now of thage & undoyng of the boore. 1598 Florio, Disciolare,..to put off hose and doublet without vndoing of points. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 484 The heeles of their shooes are seldome pulled up, to saue labour of vndoing them. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 912 They all bring about a loosening of the frame⁓work of..nervous matter... The muscular system also..shows a like undoing. |
3. a. The action of bringing to nought, destroying, or ruining; the fact of being so dealt with; the state of being undone; also (with a), an instance of this.
Quotations under (a) illustrate the active, those under (b) the passive, use of the word.
| (a) 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. iii. (Tollem. MS.), It is þe leste party and laste in undoynge of the body. 1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 198/2 In hy udoyng to the Kynges Liege peple, and ayenis the ordenaunce and statuts. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 365/1 Ondoynge, or dystroyynge, dissipacio, destruccio. c 1475 Golagros & Gaw. 497 May nane do thame na deir with vndoyng. 1598 Florio, Sfaccimento, a defacing,..a defeasance, an vndooing. 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 358 If thou leauest out the manner of doing, this is an vndoing to thy doing. 1671 J. Flavel Fount. Life v. 13 An Undoing to him in point of Reputation. |
| (b) c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 9125 The Grekes were in point of vndoyng: Ne hadde ther comen ther riche kyng. 1415 Sir T. Grey in 43rd Rep. Dep. Kpr. Rec. (1882) 583 Hit has broghte me to þis shame and undoyng. 1503–4 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) p. cxiii, Sir Roger Hastings is at the point of undoinge, because hee hath not money to pay where he ought to pay. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. vi. 171/1 Neither doest thou read that the state..of the Israelites was euer at any time in greater daunger and peril of vndooing. 1614 R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearle iv, How many country Clyents then might rest, Free from vndooing! a 1716 South Serm. (1744) XI. viii. 183 He that ventures to be a surety for another, ventures an undoing for his sake. |
b. With possessive pronoun or genitive.
Chiefly in passive sense.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 589 Danyel of her vndoynge deuyned and seyde [etc.]. c 1440 Jacob's Well 127 He took redyly þo ȝiftes, & þat was cause of his vndoyng. 1478 Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 151 Now he ys uppon hys makyng by vertues governance, or undoyng to the contrarye. 1562 Pilkington Expos. Abdias Pref. 16 They saved your lyves and goods, not seeking your undoinge when it laye in their handes. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 353 For, exposed he was..to the accesse of as manie as sought the undoing of others. 1679 J. Goodman Penit. Pard. ii. i. (1713) 157 His undoing was his making, and his misfortune proved his recovery. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 64 You see your undoing has been long hatching. 1823 Byron Juan xiv. lxxxv, The latter works its own undoing. 1852 Thackeray Esmond iii. ix, He was not the first that has..brought about his own undoing. |
c. In the phrase to (one's) undoing.
| ? 1456 Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 59 Thei wuld put alle juparte up on me to myn utter ondoyng. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 97 b, Lest he gete helpe of thy superyour, & so vanquysshe y⊇ to thy vtter vndoynge. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V, 5 b, Whiche..might abuse the name of his commaundemente to any of our vndoyng. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) App. 138 By that meanes all his creditors came upon him to his utter undoinge. 1641 W. Hakewill Libertie of Subject 83 That desperate motion that had been made against them to all their utter undoings. 1883 Whitelaw Sophocles, Ajax 402 But me the child of Zeus..plagues To my undoing. |
4. A cause of ruin or destruction.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 229 Which was to him his undoinge. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 60 Adam..beleued his wyff, the whiche was dethe and vndoyng to hym and her, and to us all. 1576 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 414 It is an accion of accompt..like to be the vtter vndooing both of him and his. 1605 Chapman All Fools ii. i. 197 It had beene her undooing t' have hime seene. 1659 Rushw. Hist. Coll. I. 420 The Soldiers brake out into great disorders..; they were a terror to all, and an undoing to many. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. iv, Mary-bone and the Chocolate-houses are his Undoing. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxiii, She will tell the truth, if it should be the undoing of her. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1875) III. xiii. 264 The marriage of Emma had well nigh been the undoing of England. |
5. a. The action of reversing, annulling, etc.
| 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 30 §1 The said judgementes..shall stande..without any reuersell or vndooyng of the same. 1611 Cotgr., Rompement,..a cancelling, dissoluing, infringing, vndoing. 1650 B. Discolliminium 16 Our Trade of doing, and undoing, will be endlesse. 1866 J. H. Newman Let. to Pusey 36 He..became man, that by what way the disobedience arising from the serpent had its beginning, by that way also it might have an undoing. 1891 J. Winsor Columbus ii. 50 When Isabella decreed the undoing of Columbus's kidnapping exploits. |
b. Psychoanalysis. The obsessive repetition of a ritualistic action as if to undo some previous event, action, or attitude, or to signify that it never happened, usu. a symptom of obsessional neurosis.
| 1927 L. P. Clark tr. Freud's Inhibition, Symptom & Anxiety vi. 42 The precautionary measures are rational, the abolitions through undoing are irrational, magical in nature. 1960 Hinsie & Campbell Psychiatric Dict. (ed. 3) 770/2 Expiatory acts, counter-compulsions, and some forms of compulsive ceremonials and counting compulsions are among the more frequent expressions of undoing. 1965 Rosen & Gregory Abnormal Psychol. iv. 75/2 A magical attempt to wipe out a real or fancied guilt is termed undoing. The individual engages in ritualistic behavior. 1972 H. J. Eysenck Encycl. Psychol. III. 366/2 Undoing, an (inner) defense mechanism which allows appeasement of a guilt feeling about a forbidden motive gratification that has already occurred. |
▪ II. unˈdoing, vbl. n.2 rare—1.
[un-1 12.]
The omission or neglect of doing; non-performance.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay ii. 25 To speake properly, we must not seeke whence commeth the doing of euill, but whence commeth the vndoing of good. |
▪ III. unˈdoing, ppl. a.
[f. undo v.]
Ruinous, destructive.
| 1654 Tuckney Death Disarmed 33 It is an undoing gain to break their arm by catching at a feather. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xvi. 305 Little do such men know how..they put an undoing cheat upon their own souls for ever. 1793 A. Seward Lett. (1811) III. 292 The present fashion of head-dress..has an undoing influence upon youth and beauty. |