v. [UN-2 4 Cf. OE. an-, on-, unscóʓian, MDu. ontscoeyen, -scoen (Du. -schoeien), MLG. entschoien, OHG. in(t)scuohôn (MHG. entschuohen, G. -schuhen).] trans. To remove a shoe or shoes from; to strip or deprive of shoes.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, xix. (Arb.), 45. Whan Isegrym was vnshoed, Tho muste … his wyf lye doun in the grasse [etc.].
1530. Palsgr., 768/2. I unshoo a horse, je deferre.
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. iii. 767. O Moon-wort! tell us where thou hid’st the Smith, Hammer, and Pincers, thou unshoo’st them with?
1628. trans. Mathieu’s Powerfull Fav., 1. They are unshod of their high shooes that eleuated them aboue others.
1653. Culpepper, Eng. Phys. Enlarged (1656), 163. Moon-wort is an herb which they say wil … unshoo such Horses as tread upon it.
1677. Gilpin, Demonol., I. xiii. 102. They were told … that this did unshoo their Foot, and afflicted them with Thirst and Want.
1827. Hone, Every-day Bk., II. 197. They were to unshoe themselves.
1868. Holme Lee, B. Godfrey, xliii. Joan unshod her feet.
transf. 1852. Burn, Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict., II. 302/1. To Unshoe a wheel, ôter la bande, les bandes de roue.
b. Unshoe-the-horse, the plant moonwort. ? Obs.
1635. Swan, Spec. M., vi. § 4 (1644), 251. The Italians call it Vnshoe-the horse; because if they tread upon it, they lose their shoes.
1653. Culpepper, Eng. Phys. Enlarged (1656), 163. Country people that I know, cal it Unshoo the Horse.
1873. Dickinson, Cumbld. Gloss., 85. Unshoe the horse, I have heard the Botrychium Lunaria plant so called.
Hence Unshoeing vbl. sb.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Dechaussement, an vnshoing.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I. xxii. 95. Gargantua … played … at [the game] the unshoing of the Asse.
