unyoke

[ uhn-yohk ]

/ ʌnˈyoʊk /

to free from or as if from a yoke.

to part or disjoin, as by removing a yoke.

to remove a yoke.

to cease work.

Origin of unyoke

before 1000; Middle English unyoken, Old English ungeocian. See un-², yoke¹

Then he proceeded to unyoke the four beasts from the other man's wagon and yoked them to his own.

The Killer |Stewart Edward White
"Yes, but if you unyoke here you will never catch them again," he said.

Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail |Ezra Meeker
They unyoke his horses, get into his shafts, drag him through the streets, toss up their caps and cry hurrah!

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 |Hall Caine
The mountains were steep and sometimes we had to unyoke our cattle and drive them down, letting the wagons down by ropes.

A Survivor's Recollections of the Whitman Massacre |Matilda Sager

His father and mother laugh heartily as he disappears round the corner of the house to unyoke the horses.

Round the Wonderful World |G. E. Mitton

unyoke

/ (ʌnˈjəʊk) /

to release (an animal, etc) from a yoke

(tr) to set free; liberate

(tr) to disconnect or separate

(intr) archaic to cease working