Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb idiomatic, transitive To
surprise orshock ; todiscomfit . - verb nautical, usually passive Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
(nautical) A square-rigged ship is taken aback when the wind blows on the front of the sails.
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