Unline
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To remove or separate the lining from.
"as in the case of gout, a disease of the sufferer's own making, from excess of de-electrising food and drink, which uncoats and unlines the nerves, and thus leaves the nervous fluid, from casual circumstances, to almost lacerate the brain."
- 2 To undergo a (now debunked) process in which the tissue of a plant separates into identical layers.
"There is no instance of unlining which may not be as well explained by the theory of alternation."
- 3 To empty (a purse). figuratively
"I'll live by a pittance. Unline my purse, and use my person, and for my limbs, take the best in the bunch."
- 4 To take out of (literal or figurative) alignment; to disconnect.
"To-morrow doth Luxurio promise me He will unline himself from bitchery ;"
- 5 To remove or destroy one or more lines.
"However, I am a Line, and they can't "unline" me very well. My soil is not good enough for a market-garden, and if it were, the surrounding inhabitants are too sparse to require so large a supply of the vegetable world."
Example
More examples"as in the case of gout, a disease of the sufferer's own making, from excess of de-electrising food and drink, which uncoats and unlines the nerves, and thus leaves the nervous fluid, from casual circumstances, to almost lacerate the brain."
Etymology
From un- + line.
More for "unline"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.