English

Verb

unhand ‎(third-person singular simple present unhands, present participle unhanding, simple past and past participle unhanded)

1. To release from the hand; to let go.
   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, part 1, lines 9-12,

     He holds him with his skinny hand,

     "There was a ship," quoth he.

     "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"

     Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

   • 1853, Oliver Optic, Hatchie, The Guardian Slave or The Heiress of Bellevue. A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-west, B. B. Mussey and Company, and R. B. Fitts and Company, Chapter XXX, page 305:

     “Unhand' the lady!” said Vernon, in a severe tone, as, at the same time, he draw from his pocket a pistol. “Unhand her!” and he approached the lawyer

   • 2008, Anne Gracie, The Stolen Princess, Berkley Books, ISBN 9780425218983, Chapter Two, page 33:

     As he dried the last toe, she said, “Thank you. You may now unhand my feet”