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Glossary (words starting with U)

uch inarticulate noise expressing disgust or disbelief (comparable with the Scottish 'och')
Uds precious God's precious blood
umh inarticulate sound indicating doubt, hesitation or dissatisfaction
Un'ch some kind of phonetic utterance; MacLeod glosses as 'a very little bit' but I cannot find any support for this definition
unadvisedness imprudent, rash
unadvisedness imprudence, rashness
unavailable ineffectual, unavailing
unavoidably inevitably
uncapable of disqualified from
uncivil crude, unseemly
unconscionable uncontrolled by conscience; harsh
uncourtly unrefined; unlike Court habits
uncouth uncertain; strange; distasteful (OED adj. 1, 2 and 3)
undeniable indisputable
under below (in rank)
under a hedge clandestinely and illegitimately, as a third-rate imitation of the real thing
underbuyings buying commodities or land more cheaply than their true value (for instance, someone who needs to settle a debt in a hurry might take a lower price for his land because he needs the money quickly)
underreach 'To entrap or defraud by stealth' (OED v. 2; Mad Couple is the only text cited as example)
understand "to know one's place" and how "to conduct oneself properly"; "to be in possession of one's senses or faculties"
undertake to take in hand, take on a case (but often as here with the additional sense of making a pledge or promise)
undertake take on, deal with; punning on (a) take in charge; to accept the duty of attending to or looking after (OED 5); and (b) take on, sexually
undertake OED (vI, 1b) records a now obsolete meaning: 'to reprove, rebuke, chide' which could carry the sense also of 'instruct'
undertaker helper
undertaker assistant or helper; one who undertakes a task
undertaking enterprise; copulation (Williams, 3: 1457)
undertook committed oneself to an enterprise, entered into a compact with, made oneself answerable for (another person) (OED undertake v, 8, 9 and 10)
undeservings unworthiness (usage is rare, but this is not a Brome coinage: see OED)
undid ruined
undoes ruins
undoing bringing about destruction or ruin (to be 'undone')
undone ruined, destroyed
unexampled unprecedented
unfeigned not pretended, genuine, true
unfeignedly sincerely; without pretence
unfit unsuitable (as friends or companions)
unfold disclosed
unfold explain, make clear
unfruitful barren (of spirit or mind), incapable of learning or returning benefits, unprofitable (as an investment)
unfurnished unprovided
ungentle discourteous
unguentum album white salve or ointment
unhallowed unholy
unhandsomeness unattractive or unseemly clothing
unhappily unfortunately, unluckily
unhappy disastrous, associated with or causing misfortune (OED adj. 3)
unhappy (1) causing misfortune or trouble; (2) unlucky or ill-fated; (3) mischievous; evil; naughty (obsolete; OED adj. 1a, 2a and 5)
universi all men
unkennel bring out into open ground
unkind undutiful, ungrateful
unknown strange, unfamiliar, and, with a sense of reprobation, 'uncouth', alien and distasteful
unknown strange, unfamiliar
unlass unless: Dryground’s song seems to require him to sing with an accent, so I’ve retained the octavo’s spelling (unlasse) here
unlawful illegal; morally prohibited
unless lest (OED conj, 4a, a sense for which the latest example given is 1592)
unmuffled stripped of her disguise
unmurthered not murdered
unnatural abnormal, monstrous (OED adj. 2b)
unnatural not in accordance or conformity with the physical nature of persons (OED adj. 1)
unneglected not ignored
unprovided of impotent, incapable of having a penile erection
unquoth unquoth probably means hitherto unspoken
unrecoverably irrecoverably
unregarded unseen, without being looked at
unrighteously unjustly, wrongfully (OED)
unsettled unfixed
unshaken secure
unshale disclose, reveal
unsight and unseen without inspection or examination
unstained pure, not morally sullied, harmed or compromised
unsuitable unsuited, unfitting
until unto; against (in the 1630s both may have been associated with Scots or Northern English speech) (OED prep, 1)
unto ‘Indicating a condition, state, or situation, conferred or imposed upon a person’ (OED prep, 9); ‘denoting attachment, union, adherence, or kinship to a person’ (OED prep, 15a)
untoward intractable, unruly, perverse (a close synonym for wayward) (OED 2a)
untoward inept, slow (OED 1b); or intractable, unruly, perverse (a close synonym for wayward) (OED 2a)
untowardly badly, unfortunately
untruss to undo the fastenings of a garment
untunable lacking both tune and harmony, cacaphonous, discordant (as distinct from the celestial music of the spheres, indicative of divine harmony)
untuneable utterly discordant, cacaphonous
unvaluable of inestimable value, of incalculable worth
unwarrantable licentious, loose, illicit, louche
unwontedness being unaccustomed
up agitated, roused, angry (OED adv. II. 16d); but there is also a further sense here, drawing on idiomatic phrases such as "All's up": (you are) caught, trapped
up agitated, roused, angry (OED adv. II 16d); but there is also a further sense here, drawing on idiomatic phrases such as "All's up": (you are) caught, trapped
up to the hilts to the furthest degree possible (OED hilt n, 3)
upbraid reproach, find fault with
upbraided reproached, found fault with
upbraidings reproaches; censure
uphold maintain at the same level (OED v. 2c); support in the face of criticism (OED v. 4)
upon engaged in; ‘at the point of; close on, touching on’ (OED upon prep. 6d)
upon towards (OED upon prep, 20); concerning (upon prep. 22)
upon ‘At the point of; close on, touching on’ (OED prep. 6d); ‘Unto, to (a person): in reference to ... marriage’ (OED prep. 18)
upper (world) northern (hemisphere)
upper-body the clothing of the chest and shoulders
upright of unbending integrity or rectitude; morally just
upright honourable, honest
upright-man big, strong, or sturdy vagrant, one trained as a husbandsman but who chooses to beg or thieve rather than work
upset to restore to good or usual condition (OED I 2b, citing The City Wit 3.1.); to set up
upsitting occasion of a woman's first sitting up to receive company after having given birth
upstart newcomer to high rank, parvenu, social climber
upwards facing upwards, lying on one's back (OED, upward, C. 1)
upwards (grow) upwards: swelling of the belly in pregnancy
upwards elevated (in height)
urbanity civility
urge push forward; urgently remind of
urinal a glass vessel or phial employed to receive urine for medical examination or inspection (OED n. 1)
usage treatment (OED n. 7)
use treat, deal with
use treat, with implication of treat harshly
use make, practise, employ
use advantageous use (i.e. as a moral lesson), with a pun on ‘use’ meaning the money lent out by usurers
use have sex with
use (n) employment, application (OED n. 1); habit, practice (OED n. 8); purpose (OED n. 16a); benefit, usefulness (use, n, 20a)
use interest, usury (OED v. 5b)
use make it a custom to
use to usually, habitually
used treated
USHER male attendant upon a lady (OED usher n, 2a)
USHER servant who has charge of the door and admits people to a hall or chamber; a door-keeper (OED 1)
usual ordinary (OED adj. 3a)
usurer moneylender
usurped seized, possessed unjustly (OED ppl. 1)
utters discloses, shows
uxorious fond of a wife, often pejorative, meaning fond to excess

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