unseat

Etymology

) from his horse.]] From un- (suffix meaning ‘not’) + seat (“to provide with a place to sit”).

verb

1. (transitive) To dislodge or remove (someone) from a seat, especially on horseback.
   The frightened horse reared up and unseated its rider.
   I was unseated from my bike after hitting an unexpected pothole.
   They nearly unseated me from the suddenness of the attack, and as I recovered I certainly struck at them with my whip. 1898, G[eorge] A[lfred] Henty, At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt, London, Glasgow: Blackie & Son, →OCLC, page 23
   Gray screamed and shuddered, rearing and turning as the ground opened in front of us. It unseated me, and I fell, my boots sliding out of the stirrups as if they were greased. 1980, Bill Pronzini, Mummy! A Chrestomathy of Crypt-ology, New York, N.Y.: Arbor House, page 237
   He came out full of fight, bucking like a demon, swiveling his hips, hooking left and right with his short, blunted horns, fighting like mad to unseat the rider who clung to the rigging behind his hump. 1990, Louis L’Amour, The Outlaws of Mesquite, London, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Press, page 67
   Strip the netting under the mattresses. Braid it together, tie it to the window bars, and twist. The torque will unseat at least one of the bars pretty easily. 2017, Rachel Caine [pseudonym; Roxanne Longstreet Conrad], Ash and Quill, New York, N.Y.: Berkley, page 34
2. (transitive, figurative)
   1. To remove (someone) from an office or position, especially a political one; to dethrone.
      After having lost her seat to a Tory, she succeeded in unseating him in the next general election.
      India has recently unseated China as the world’s most populous country.
      But notvvithſtanding all theſe endeavours of theirs, the nine aforementioned VVorthies are reſolved not to part ſo tamely from their Commands, but having made their party as ſtrong as they could, reſolved next morning to unſeat the Parliament once more; […] 1661, J[ohn] D[avies], chapter CVIII, in The Civil Warres of Great Britain and Ireland.[…], London: […] R. W. for Philip Chetwind,[…], →OCLC, page 371
      We carried through our man with great eclat, though protests were taken by the other candidate against so many of our votes, that, had one third of the exceptions held good, it was clear the Governor must be unseated. 1834 September, [Christian Isobel Johnstone], “The Experiences of Richard Taylor, Esq. Chapter VIII.—Governor Fox.—Part II.”, in William Tait, editor, Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume I, number VIII, Edinburgh: W. Tait, →OCLC, pages 540–541
      As a result, the anti-Bismarck circles are encouraged in their hope of at length unseating the everlasting chancellor. 1927 October, Emil Ludwig, chapter VII, in Eden Paul, Cedar Paul, transl., Bismarck: The Story of a Fighter, New York, N.Y.: Blue Ribbon Books, published February 1932, →OCLC, book 4 (1872–1888: The Ruler), page 459
      Newly elected Conservative Mayor of Bedford Tom Wootton has promised to "hold East West Rail to account" over the sale of homes along the route. Wootton, who won the election on May 7 after unseating his LibDem predecessor by 145 votes, centred his campaign on his opposition to EWR's 'northern route' to Cambridge, which was announced as the preferred one after the election […] 28 June 2023, “Network News: Bedford Mayor Opposes East West Rail over Value of Houses on Route”, in Rail, number 986, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17
   2. To cause (something) to be removed or replaced in its role; to displace, to overturn.
      The Michelson-Morley experiment prompted scientists to unseat their belief in the luminiferous aether.
      Printed newspapers are gradually being unseated by digital publications.
      Eleanor sank upon his bosom, and sobbed as if her heart were bursting with its transport; and poor Susan laughed and wept alternately, till Mr. Blandley, who by this time had heard of the occurrence and reached the court-room, was fearful that her reason would be totally unseated. 1829, William Leggett, Tales and Sketches, New York, N.Y.: J. & J. Harper, page 81
      Robespierre concluded that Danton and Desmoulins were bent on unseating and putting an end to the Committee. He concluded that he would never be safe as long as these old friends of his were alive. 1975, Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Volume 11: The Age of Napoleon, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, page 76
      If search bots make enough errors, then, rather than increasing trust with their conversational ability, they have the potential to unseat users' perceptions of search engines as impartial arbiters of truth, [Aleksandra] Urman says. 13 February 2023, Chris Stokel-Walker, “AI chatbots are coming to search engines — can you trust the results?”, in Nature, London: Nature Portfolio, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-22
   3. To upset the composure of (someone); to astound, to shock, to unsettle.
      The Matrix (1999) utterly unseated audiences around the world with its mind-blowing plot twist.
      I was somewhat unseated by the strange noises outside my window.
      "Heart up, heart up, my boy!" he exclaimed. "The horrors of war must not unseat a soldier thus"—but the other interrupted him, muttering huskily: / "You did not see—not recognise?" and as he spoke the astonishment on his face was accompanied by a look of almost awestruck unbelief. 1897, John Bloundelle-Burton, The Clash Of Arms: A Romance, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, page 49
      Thereafter he held his peace, protesting not at all when it was generally agreed that the collapse of certain squalid brick houses in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, and the consequent death of many brave officers, had unseated his nervous equilibrium. 1925, H[oward] P[hilips] Lovecraft, “The Horror at Red Hook”, in The H. P. Lovecraft Collection, London: Arcturus Publishing, published 2016, page 266
      Your telegram rather unseated me. I was under the impression that if I found a bargain in a place to stay, you would still come. 8 January 1937, Harry [S. Truman], edited by Robert Hugh Ferrell, Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton & Company, published 1983, →OCLC, page 392
      Over the red wine, kindly, suddenly: 'Of course, you wrote it tongue-in-cheek, didn't you?' / From him, this unseated me. 'N-no, I didn't.' 1973, Emlyn Williams, Emlyn: An Early Autobiography, 1927–1935:[…], London: The Bodley Head, page 91
      Sensing the sincerity in the question and wanting to be courteous, but overwhelmed by trying to put the richness I had always been blessed with "down there" into quick words, I could only mumble something about yes, there's a beautiful river down there, although the question so unseated me I'm not sure what I said. 1995, Ann Zwinger, Downcanyon: A Naturalist Explores the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Tucson, A.Z.: University of Arizona Press, page 237
      Poor dear couldn't speak, could barely lift a finger. Utterly unseated he was. 2006, Stephen Wright, The Amalgamation Polka, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 89
      In this manner, I underwent a series of profound spiritual experiences that utterly unseated me and filled my consciousness with a dimension of knowledge I never knew existed. 2008, Michael Wombacher, 11 Days at the Edge: One Man's Spiritual Journey into Evolutionary Enlightenment, Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, page 2
      But, as my psychiatrist says, when my ego and super ego kicked in, I became a balanced person. Until she unseated me repeatedly. 2010, Ruth Hamilton, Sugar and Spice, Sutton, Surrey: Severn House, page 216
      I'm not making this easy for him, but I feel he's put me on the back foot by turning up at my workplace unannounced. Also, his appearance has undeniably unseated me, sending my mind into orbit about what's behind it. 2010, Jane Moore, Love Is on the Air, London: Century, page 247
      As a banker from a banking family with a tradition founded on trust and respectability that goes back three hundred years, I was unseated by her threats. 2011, John Nathan, A Bintel Brif: A Novel, Bloomington, Ind.: Xlibris, page 216
      Now what was I supposed to say? She had completely unseated me. 2015, S[arah] D. Sykes, The Butcher Bird, London: Hodder & Stoughton, page 257
      Caitlin was suddenly all questions. Usually good at keeping her composure, she was completely unseated by this. 3 March 2015, Stephanie Taylor, Scout, Lulu.com, pages 68–69
      Ahead of the film's July 1 premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with [Sope] Dìrísù about starring in the Regency-era romance feature — he reprises his role from the short film that was made in 2019, also directed by [Emma Holly] Jones — and how he approached playing a character with a pragmatic approach to love who then finds himself thoroughly unseated by it by the end of the story. 5 July 2022, Carly Lane, “'Mr. Malcolm's List': Sope Dirisu on Reading Jane Austen as Research and Performing the Dance Scene”, in Collider, archived from the original on 2022-10-07
      Leter her stare if she wanted, the gaze of a woman had never unseated me. Only I was sure this particular woman was about to change that. 2022, Ndidi Otuya, Lead Me Back To You: A Fated Mate Werewolf Romance, Starlight, page 2
3. (intransitive, technical) To come off or out of a seat.
   We replaced the screws, since the old ones unseated too easily.
   When the feed-valve unseats, air begins to enter the train line and the black hand moves up; […] 1907, Straight Air Brakes;[…], Scranton, P.A.: International Textbook Company, pages 50–51
   When the pump plunger is moved upward, the flat on top of the cup unseats from the flat on the plunger head and allows free movement of fuel through the inside of the cup into the bottom of the pump well. 1969, Guy F. Wetzel, Automotive Diagnosis and Tune-Up, 5th edition, Bloomington, I.L.: McKnight Publishing Company, page 399
   Pull the trigger and the end or needle portion of a spring-loaded shaft unseats from an opening to allow liquid or air to pass through. 1987, William McElroy, Painter's Handbook, Carlsbad, C.A.: Craftsman Book Company, →LCCN, page 250
   Using a screwdriver from the trunk of the Camaro, he opened the housing. The short screws unseated quickly and he set aside the lid. 2008, T. Jefferson Parker, L.A. Outlaws: A Novel, New York: Dutton, page 232