unˈhair, v.
[un-2 4 and 7. Cf. MDu. and Du. ontharen, MHG. enthâren.]
1. trans. To deprive (the head, etc.) of hair.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxix. 18 Eche heed maad ballid, and eche shuldre is vnheerid. 1598 Florio, Disparuccare, to pull off ones haire or perawig, to vnhaire. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 64 Ile vnhaire thy head, Thou shalt be whipt with Wyer. 1849 J. A. Carlyle tr. Dante's Inf. 393 Even if thou unhair me, I will not tell thee who I am. |
b. Tanning. To remove the hair from (a skin) by special processes.
| 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. Ser. v. 182 The hide is then spread out on the beam, and ‘unhaired’, that is, scraped with a knife till the hair is removed. 1880 Times 27 Sept. 12/6 The cost of unhairing, fleshing, and scudding all kinds of skins. |
2. intr. To lose the hair; to become free of hair.
| 1843 in Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 177 So that they [sc. the hides] may unhair without tainting. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 370/1 The hide is said to unhair in 24 hours. |
Hence unˈhaired ppl. a.
| 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 20 The softened and unhaired skins. 1881 Morgan Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol. 127 Screens of willow matting or unhaired skins. |