Synonyms for aback
| Grammar : Adv |
| Spell : uh-bak |
| Phonetic Transcription : əˈbæk |
Définition of aback
Origin :- c.1200, from Old English on bæc "at or on the back;" see back (n.). Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression in reference to a vessel's square sails when a sudden change of wind flattens them back against the masts and stops the forward motion of the ship (1754). The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.
- adv taken unawares
- This discovery knocked us all aback, and we were quite at a loss how to proceed.
- Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
- Well, when you consider that, can you wonder I was set all aback?
- Extract from : « Cap'n Warren's Wards » by Joseph C. Lincoln
- It took her aback by its directness, and for a moment left her without an answer.
- Extract from : « The Snare » by Rafael Sabatini
- I certainly took him aback, and he almost dropped the glass.
- Extract from : « Two Sides of the Face » by Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
- Sarah did not answer for a minute, for the question took her aback; then she laughed.
- Extract from : « Sarah's School Friend » by May Baldwin
- To bagpipe the mizen is to lay it aback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen-shrouds.
- Extract from : « The Sailor's Word-Book » by William Henry Smyth
- When he tried to come nearer her she laughed and thrust him aback.
- Extract from : « Privy Seal » by Ford Madox Ford
- The midshipman went to sleep, and when he awoke he found the ship all aback.
- Extract from : « A Voyage round the World » by W.H.G. Kingston
- “Throw it all aback,” he cut in as at last he caught my idea.
- Extract from : « A Middy in Command » by Harry Collingwood
- Loose and set the topsail and topgallant-sail, and throw them aback!
- Extract from : « The Rover's Secret » by Harry Collingwood
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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019