unsmother

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ smother.

Verb

unsmother (third-person singular simple present unsmothers, present participle unsmothering, simple past and past participle unsmothered)

1. To release from smothering.
   • 1611, George Chapman, May Day: A Comedy:

     A tale, a very tale, Angelo ! enter for the love of heaven! enter and unsmother me!

   • 1972, Dalton H. McBee, Writer's Journal: Explorations, page 12:

     Write out a conversation of " smothered thoughts . " Then " unsmother ” them .

   • 1975, Duane G. Newcomb, Word power makes the difference: making what you write pay off:

     In addition, we also often insert inactive verb motors in our writing that really drag. We must then both unsmother our verbs and replace them with words that make the sentence move.

   • 1980, Antler, Factor, page 61:

     No more strangleholds! Ungag our souls!! Unstrangle our souls!! Unsmother our souls!!

   • 1994, John Fox, The Poetry of Fifteenth-century France - Volume 1, page 63:

     I am quite smothered with grief, but love requires me to unsmother what unhappiness smothers in me, and my smothered mutterings must be mutedly unsmothered, for I can no longer smother the mutterings I now must unsmother.

   • 1997, Karin Kavelin Jones, Antonio Ligabue, Beast in the Mirror: The Life of Outsider Artist Antonio Ligabue, page 90:

     He bent down to unsmother a still-warm vineroot and coaxed it alive.

Anagrams

• unmothers