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Examples

  • He hung for a moment over the side, twisted himself back in a strong effort to regain his balance, and incautiously planted his foot inside the unlaying coil.

    Jim Spurling, Fisherman or Making Good Albert Walter Tolman

  • A short splice is made by unlaying the ends of two pieces of rope to a sufficient length, then interlaying them, draw them close and push the strands of one under the strands of the other several times.

    Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students

  • She sealed that letter and she moved about the room unlaying and as she unlaid, destroying, all evidences, all treasures, all landmarks, all that in any way referred to or touched upon her working life.

    This Freedom 1925

  • Strands b and e are shown secured by unlaying half of each for a suitable length and laying half of the other in place of the unlayed portions, the loose ends being passed through the rope.

    Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition 1906

  • Boston found a sounding-rod in the locker, which he scraped bright with his knife, then, unlaying a strand of the rope for a line, sounded the pump-well.

    Great Sea Stories Various 1897

  • But sailors are not easily disheartened, and they forthwith set to work to manufacture a new line out of the rope which they still had in the boat; Tom carefully unlaying the strands and jointing the yarns, whilst George tried his best to manufacture a hook out of a nail drawn from the gunwale of the boat.

    The Voyage of the Aurora Harry Collingwood 1886

  • He held out the wet end of the rope, showing how it was neatly bound with copper-wire to keep it from fraying out and unlaying.

    Sappers and Miners The Flood beneath the Sea George Manville Fenn 1870

  • One-third of her working men were constantly employed, as before remarked, in this laborious operation, and some of their hands had become so sore from the constant friction of the ropes, that they could hardly handle them any longer without the use of mittens, assisted by the unlaying of the ropes to make them soft.

    Journal of the Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage William Edward Parry 1822

  • One third of her working men were constantly employed, as before remarked, in this laborious operation, and some of their hands had become so sore from the constant friction of the ropes, that they could hardly handle them any longer without the use of mittens, assisted by the unlaying of the ropes to make them soft.

    Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 2 William Edward Parry 1822

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