1. trans. To deprive (the head, etc.) of hair.
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. xxix. 18. Eche heed maad ballid, and eche shuldre is vnheerid.
1598. Florio, Disparuccare, to pull off ones haire or perawig, to vnhaire.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. v. 64. Ile vnhaire thy head, Thou shalt be whipt with Wyer.
1849. J. A. Carlyle, trans. Dante’s Inf., 393. Even if thou unhair me, I will not tell the who I am.
b. Tanning. To remove the hair from (a skin) by special processes.
1845. G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., Ser. V. 182. The hide is then spread out on the beam, and ‘unhaired,’ that is, scraped with a knife till the hair is removed.
1880. Times, 27 Sept., 12/6. The cost of unhairing, fleshing, and scudding all kinds of skins.
2. intr. To lose the hair; to become free of hair.
1843. in Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 177. So that they [sc. the hides] may unhair without tainting.
1883. R. Haldane, Workshop Rec., Ser. II. 370/1. The hide is said to unhair in 24 hours.
Hence Unhaired ppl. a.
1852. Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 20. The softened and unhaired skins.
1881. Morgan, Contrib. N. Amer. Ethnol., 127. Screens of willow matting or unhaired skins.
