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to turn back, as that which is twisted; to untwine. If one of the twines of the twist do untwist, The twine that untwisteth, untwisteth the twist. Wallis.

A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. Untwisting his deceitful clew. Spenser.

An unfolding, untwisting, or unplaiting. [Obs.] W. Montagu.

To untwist; to uncurl; to unplat. [Obs.] Hakewill.

nial services or drudgery, for another, as in some English schools. To fag out, to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or the edge of canvas.

d of poorer quality, or in a spoiled condition, as the coarser end of a web of cloth, the untwisted end of a rope, ect.

To untwist; to unravel, as the end of a rope. Johnson.

Untwisted filaments of silk, used in embroidering. Floss silk, silk that has been twisted, and which retains its loose and downy character. It is much used in embroidery. Called also floxed silk. -- Floss thread, a kind of soft flaxen yarn or thread, used for embroidery; -- called also linen floss, and floss yarn. McE…

A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage.

The material obtained by untwisting and picking into loose fiber old hemp ropes; -- used for calking the seams of ships, stopping leaks, etc.

To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a sticking. Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care. Shak.

The act of untwisting, or of disentangling.

See Sleave, untwisted thread.

A strand, or slender roll, of cotton or other fiber in a loose, untwisted state, produced by a carding machine and ready for the roving or slubbing which preceeds spinning.

The tendency, as of a rope, to untwist after being twisted.

To untwist; as, to unlay a rope.

To untwist, as something spun.

To untwist; to separate, as that which is twined or twisted; to disentangle; to untie. It requires a long and powerful counter sympathy in a nation to untwine the ties of custom which bind a people to the established and the old. Sir W. Hamilton.

To untwist; to undo. Ash.

To wind off; to loose or separate, as what or convolved; to untwist; to untwine; as, to unwind thread; to unwind a ball of yarn.