Dictionary

unship en · VERB

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- Proto-Indo-European *sek-? Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *skey-der.? Proto-Germanic *skipą Proto-West Germanic *skip Old English scip Middle English schip English ship English unship From un- + ship.

Meanings

1. To unload cargo from a ship or other vessel.
2. (transitive) To remove (an oar, a mast, etc.) from its normal position.
   • Dan sluiced the pen energetically, unshipped the table, set it up to dry in the moonlight, ran the red knife-blades through a wad of oakum, and began to sharpen them on a tiny grindstone […] 1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:
3. (archaic) To throw from a horse; to unseat.
   • Ben hired a nag, but 'twould stumble of course, / And by falling endanger poor Ben, / Aye, and over her bows, sir, this crazy old horse / Would unship, and unship him again. 1823 February 8, L. O., “Ballast”, in The Mirror, number XV, page 240:
   • Before starting Mytton posted a wagoner at a spot on the "course" where the slope was steep, and gave him orders to cry "Whoa!" as the horses passed him. The man did so, with the result that two of the friends were unshipped by the abruptness of the stop to which their clumsy mounts came on hearing the familiar order. 1901 October 11, “Gleanings”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 16, page 497:

Forms

Deriveds

unshipment