unwed

1. not comparableNot married.

plural unweds

1. One who is not married; a bachelor or a spinster.

   Should unweds living together receive the same social benefits as married couples?

   1 more example

   Perhaps the most awkward situation for the inexperienced young landlady was how to deal with “unweds.”

   1944, Emily Carr, “Unmarried”, in The House of All Sorts

present singular third person unweds · participle present unwedding · participle past unwedded · past unwedded

1. transitiveTo annul the marriage of.

   At last it was determined to unwed the unhappy pair, during the arrangements for which the husband was arrested and put into jail for six months for rioting.

   1918, All the World, volume 39, page 304

2. figurativelytransitiveTo separate.

   A singer must be a fool indeed if you do not hear through Sullivan's notes the exact language of any song. Take, for example, the well-known Sentry song in Iolanthe and attempt to unwed the wit of the air from the wit of the thought and words; […]

   2008, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Studies in Literature: Third Series, page 206