unˈstop, v.
[un-2 3 and 7. Cf. (M)Du. ontstoppen.]
1. trans. To free from being stopped up or closed.
| (a) 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xiii. (Bodl. MS.), Comyn merche vnstoppeþ and openeþ þe splene and brekeþ þe stone. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xii. 306 He..vnbounde hym and vnstopped his eyen. c 1561 Veron Free-will 57 b, Except the Lorde did..unstop their eares, and cleare the eyes of theyr myndes. 1584 Cogan Haven Health ix. 31 It maketh..the bellie laxatiue,..and vnstoppeth the veines. 1611 Bible Isaiah xxxv. 5 Then..the eares of the deafe shalbe vnstopped. 1637 N. Whiting Albino & Bellama 1963 Who will not..Galen try, To weaken humours, and unstop the pores? 1700 Motteux Quix. (1733) II. 186 The first thing we did was to unty the Hands of Zoraida's Father, and to unstop his Mouth. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. vii. ¶9 My heart was softened, and my ears unstopped. 1871 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. li. 15 He..fears to speak till the Lord unstops his shame-silenced mouth. |
| (b) 1530 Palsgr. 768/2 Unstoppe nat the bottell tyll we shall drinke on it. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 102 Priuily vnstopping one or two of hys bottles, the wyne flowed out. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xii. 241 When the melting is finished, they vnstoppe the pottes and draw forth the mettall. 1645–50 Boate Ireland's Nat. Hist. xvii. §7 (1652) 138 The Iron it self descendeth to the lowest part of the furnace, called the Hearth; the which being filled,..they unstop the Hearth, and open the mouth thereof. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. i. 21 To unstop the Valve to let out any Air. 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 73 In the Spring you must unstop your Vent-hole, and thereby see whether your Drink doth ferment or not. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 265 Unstop all the registers of the reverberatory. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 45 If the bottle be stopped, the colour will presently disappear; but when it is unstopped, the colour soon returns again. 1854 Hull Improv. Act 32 [To] make, rebuild, clear out, unstop, or in anywise alter any sewer. 1866 Furnivall Bk. Quinte Essence 4 marg., After many days unstop your distiller. |
| transf. 1664 Boyle Exper. Colours 35 Such White Fumes I have seen afforded by unstopping a Liquor. |
b. intr. To become opened.
| c 1440 Ipomydon 1261 Ipomydon was sore travailed... Hys arme vnstoppid; þe blode gan falle. |
2. To pull or draw out (an organ-stop).
| 1855 Browning Master Hugues 139 Say the word, straight I unstop the Full-Organ, Blare out the mode Palestrina. |
3. (See
stop v. 28.)
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv, They were heave-ho-ing, stopping and unstopping, pawling, catting, and fishing for three hours. |
Hence
unˈstopping vbl. n.| 1611 Cotgr., Desbouchement, an vnstopping. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxxvii. 314 Upon the unstopping of the Glass. 1676 More Remarks 83 Upon the unstopping of the lower end, all the water..will run down. |