déclouer

A concrete, literal verb from carpentry meaning to remove nails, or to take down something that was nailed up (a board, a sign, a crate lid). It has no real figurative use — for that, French reaches for other words entirely.

• Il a décloué les planches qui condamnaient la porte. — He pulled the nails out of the boards that were sealing the door shut.
• Pour ouvrir la caisse, il faut d'abord déclouer le couvercle. — To open the crate, you first have to un-nail the lid.
• Les ouvriers ont décloué l'ancienne enseigne avant de la remplacer. — The workers took down the old sign (removing its nails) before replacing it.

A purely literal, hands-on word — don't reach for it in any figurative sense; it stays in the workshop, describing an actual nail being pulled out.