unstring

present singular third person unstrings · participle present unstringing · participle past unstrung · past unstrung

1. transitiveTo remove the string or strings from.

   Unstring the bows before storing them.

   3 more examples

   When he looked at her neck he was reminded of how difficult it was to unstring a turkey.

   2001, Graham Greene, Twenty-one Stories, →ISBN, page 30

   When you unstring the bow and it snaps right back to its unstrung profile, you probably have a nice piece of wood that's properly dry.

   2009, Stim Wilcox, The Art of Making Selfbows, →ISBN

   I learned that music is expectancy and must be formed to the purpose for which it is played. People listen to it, pedagogues do not, and if they can't smile or hum or tap a foot to it, then, brother, you'd better unstring the Balalaika.

   2012, Rich Jackson, Guiding Daniel, →ISBN, page 195

2. transitiveTo shake the nerves of; to cause anxiety or panic in.

   They look at the same events that unstring those less capable ... and see something useful.

   2013, Ravi Venkatesan, Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere, →ISBN, page 56

   4 more examples

   [T]he monſter, rouſed by the noiſe, ſtarted forward, preſented ſuch a viſage of horror, and raiſed ſuch a hideous roar, that the hearts of the bold were contracted, and the nerves of the valiant unſtrung.

   1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 6

   The sight of his scared face, his starts and pallors and sudden harkenings, unstrung me […]

   1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla

   A fire is the only thing that unstrings me entirely, I feel so helpless to combat it. I'm afraid of snakes, but I can kill them.

   1915, Clifton Johnson, Battleground Adventures

   It took less than a single day to change these hairs from a jetty black to white, to weaken my limbs, and to unstring my nerves, so that I tremble at the least exertion, and am frightened at a shadow.

   2008, Charles H. Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, →ISBN, page 453

3. To defuse or relax.

   She took a deep, slow breath in an effort to settle her heart and unstring her muscles.

   2010, Julia Spencer-Fleming, A Fountain Filled With Blood, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   In the mean time, the same, or a similar end, may be attained, in the 2d PLACE, By splitting a duty on a commodity, so as to unstring the stimulus to smuggle, while we preserve the same, or perhaps require a greater amount, from the same subject than we had before.

   1791, Andrew Hamilton, An Enquiry Into the Principles of Taxation

   Society can unstring the tension of sublimation only by lifting the barrier completely, that is, by abandoning the idea that illicit eros must not be gratified; society does not unstring the tension by silently countenancing individual gratifications.

   2002, Paul W. Ludwig, Eros and Polis: Desire and Community in Greek Political Theory, →ISBN, page 254

4. To remove from a string; to release something that has been strung up or strung together.

   After pelting unstring the carcase.

   2008, Alan Thompson, Claude Goodchild, Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   "Poke a hole in the tops and bottoms of these eggs, blow out the yolks and whites, unstring the diamonds and stick them through the holes..."

   1988, Eileen Christelow, The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner, →ISBN

   Look at them for 10 seconds, and then unstring them and try to put the beads back in their right order.

   2004, Mandy Hager, Help, My Brain Hurts!

   When it came time to cook the smelly corned fish, Momma would unstring the ones she wanted and boil them several times in hot water to draw off the heavy laver of salt and tenderize the fish.

   2009, Sallie Ann Robinson, Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night, →ISBN, page 137

5. To untie.

   It was time to lead these horses out somewhere off the desert and unstring them.

   2014, Ralph Cotton, Shadow River, →ISBN, page 280

   3 more examples

   Invaded thus, for want of better bands, His garland they unstring, and bind his hands

   1773, John Dryden, Original poems by John Dryden, Esq - Volume 5, page 69

   He is now e'en trying to unstring the tie of virtue, in yon poor cottager's daughter!

   1840, John N. Smith, Ramanzo: The Conscience Stricken Brigand.

   “So, James, should we unstring it first for ease of handling?” The ties were simple, as one might use without bothering about the intricacies of binding, merely to make sure that the pages stayed together and in the correct order.

   2004, Elizabeth James, Across the Bridge, →ISBN, page 142

6. transitivecomputingTo split (a text string) into smaller strings by separating on a delimiter.

   It is also possible to save the delimiters (this might prove useful if the delimiters were also some sort of text identifier) and to count the length of the data items we are unstringing.

   1980, Norman R. Lyons, Structured Cobol for Data Processing

   Synonyms: explode, split, explode