Crossword Genius

Draw out a French novel and a couple of articles (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

unsheathe

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'draw out' is the definition.
'unsheathe' can be an answer for 'draw' (unsheathing is a kind of drawing). I am unsure of the 'out' bit.

'a french novel and a couple of articles' is the wordplay.
'a couple of articles' means two substitutions for 'article'.
'a french' becomes 'un' ('a' in French).
'novel' becomes 'she' (I've seen this before**).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'article' becomes 'a' (indefinite article).
'article' becomes 'the' (the 'definite article' part of speech).
'un'+'she'+'a'+'the'='UNSHEATHE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for unsheathe that I've seen before include "Remove from cover like sword" , "Take out of scabbard" , "Draw (weapon)" , "Draw (a sword)" , "Draw from a scabbard" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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