unchary, not careful, heedless. Twelfth Nt. iii. 4. 222.
unclew, to unwind from a clew; hence, fig. to undo, to ruin. Timon, i. 1. 168.
uncoined, not minted; hence, not used as common coin, unconventional, simple. Hen. V, v. 2. 161.
uncouth, unknown, unusual, strange, Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 20; iii. 4. 51; Shep. Kal., Sept., 60. Still in prov. use in this sense in the north country (EDD.). ME. uncouth, strange, uncommon (Chaucer, C. T. A. 2497). OE. uncūð, unknown, strange (John x. 5).
underfong, to undertake a work, labour, task; ‘And looser songs of love to underfong’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 22; id., June, 103; to receive, to take surreptitiously, F. Q. v. 2. 7; underfang, Mirror for Mag., Morindus, st. 6. ME. underfongyn, ‘suscipio’ (Prompt.). OE. underfōn, to receive, to undertake a task (B. T.); pp. underfangen. See Dict. M. and S. (s.vv. Underfon and Underfangen).
undergo, to experience; to endure with firmness, Cymbeline, iii. 2. 7; to suffer, put up with, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 133; to partake of, to enjoy, Meas. for M. i. 1. 24; to take upon oneself, to undertake, Two Gent. v. 4. 42; to be subject to, ‘Claudio undergoes my challenge’, Much Ado, v. 2. 57.
undermeal, a slight afternoon meal. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, iv. 1 (Cokes). See EDD. (s.v. Undern). ME. undermele, ‘post meridies’ (Prompt. EETS. 508); undermele tyde (Trevisa, tr. Higden, v. 373); undermeles, afternoons (Chaucer, C. T. D. 875); undern + mele; undern, the time between noon and sunset. OE. undern. See Dict. M. and S. (s.v. Undern).
underset, to support, Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, p. 146). ME. undersettyn or underschoryn, ‘fulcio, suffulcio’ (Prompt. EETS.).
undertaker, a contractor; ‘Let not the government of the plantation depend upon too many . . . undertakers in the country that planteth’, Bacon, Essay 33; one who takes upon himself a task or business, Twelfth Nt. iii. 4. 349; Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 1. 78. Cp. Othello, iv. 1. 224.
undertime, afternoon, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 13. For undern-time. See [undermeal].