See take aback in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for take aback meaning in English (9.2kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "take"
},
"expansion": "take",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "aback"
},
"expansion": "aback",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From take + aback, see the two entries for their respective etymology.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "takes aback",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "taking aback",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "took aback",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "taken aback",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "take<,,took,taken> aback"
},
"expansion": "take aback (third-person singular simple present takes aback, present participle taking aback, simple past took aback, past participle taken aback)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I was rather taken aback by his angry reply.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The bad news took us aback.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1807, William Cobbett, Cobbett's Political Register, Vol. XI., London: Cox and Baylis, page 121",
"text": "I was, at first, a little taken aback and astounded at the bulk of the volume; but, I turned out early this morning, and with eager hope and expectation set doggedly to work in search of the promised consolation.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1808, The Post-Captain: A View of Naval Society and Manners, 3rd edition, London: Thomas Tegg, page 165",
"text": "I would rather board a hundred of the enemy's frigates, than steer my boat into a fleet of modest women, for a modest woman never fails to take me aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Penelope Fitzgerald, The Beginning of Spring, Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 156",
"text": "Frank was taken aback when Lisa told him that she also needed forgiveness from him, for actions, for words, and for unspoken thoughts.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Rupert Thomson, Soft!, page 292",
"text": "In a way, he was taken aback by the absence of discouragement.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Tanith Lee, White as Snow, New York: Tom Doherty Associates, page 105",
"text": "She was not taken aback to find he lived in a ramshackle log hut among the trees.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Anna Gilbert, A Morning in Eden, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 9",
"text": "She was a little taken aback to find the front door of heavy oak unlocked.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Russell Miller, Behind the Lines: The Oral History of Special Operations in World War II, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 178",
"text": "Zervas was rather taken aback to learn that Ares Veloutiotes, the communist leader, was on his way to the village because there was no friendship between them.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Denis Noble, The Music of Life: Biology beyond genes, page 123",
"text": "The physiologist is taken aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014 July 1, Steve Rose, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: a primate scream - first look review”, in The Guardian",
"text": "They haven't seen humans for years, so when a small expedition, led by Jason Clarke, stumbles into apetopia, both sides are taken aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3",
"text": "Most commentators have been taken aback (but reassured) at how opposition has, if anything, grown rather than faded over time.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To surprise or shock; to discomfit."
],
"id": "en-take_aback-en-verb-CLJygSAQ",
"links": [
[
"surprise",
"surprise"
],
[
"shock",
"shock"
],
[
"discomfit",
"discomfit"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, transitive) To surprise or shock; to discomfit."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "iznenadvam",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "изненадвам"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "izdebvam",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "издебвам"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "překvapit"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "konsterni"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "ällistyttää"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "järkyttää"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "überraschen"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "xafniázo",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "ξαφνιάζω"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ht",
"lang": "Haitian Creole",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "souke"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "bain siar as"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "cogliere di sorpresa"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "prendere alla sprovvista"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "zbić z tropu"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "assustar"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "surpreender"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ošelomljátʹ",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "ошеломля́ть"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ošelomítʹ",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "ошеломи́ть"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "zaxvátyvatʹ vrasplóx",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "захва́тывать враспло́х"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "zastátʹ vrasplóx",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "заста́ть враспло́х"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "cuir iongnadh air"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "iznenaditi"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "osupnuti"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "zapanjiti"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "preneraziti"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "agarrar en curva"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "sorprender"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "pasmar"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "asombrar"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "dejar pasmado"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "dejar estupefacto"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "agarrar de sorpresa"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nautical",
"orig": "en:Nautical",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "13 87",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (aback)",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly."
],
"id": "en-take_aback-en-verb-DVZovb0h",
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical, usually passive) Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly."
],
"tags": [
"passive",
"usually"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to catch with sails aback",
"word": "joutua vastatuuleen"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "to catch with sails aback",
"word": "pūawhe"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌteɪk əˈbæk/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˌtʰeɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌtæɪk əˈbæk/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˌtʰæɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]",
"tags": [
"General-Australian"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-take aback.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-take_aback.ogg/En-au-take_aback.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-take_aback.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "take aback"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English phrasal verbs",
"English phrasal verbs with particle (aback)",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "take"
},
"expansion": "take",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "aback"
},
"expansion": "aback",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From take + aback, see the two entries for their respective etymology.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "takes aback",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "taking aback",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "took aback",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "taken aback",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "take<,,took,taken> aback"
},
"expansion": "take aback (third-person singular simple present takes aback, present participle taking aback, simple past took aback, past participle taken aback)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I was rather taken aback by his angry reply.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The bad news took us aback.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1807, William Cobbett, Cobbett's Political Register, Vol. XI., London: Cox and Baylis, page 121",
"text": "I was, at first, a little taken aback and astounded at the bulk of the volume; but, I turned out early this morning, and with eager hope and expectation set doggedly to work in search of the promised consolation.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1808, The Post-Captain: A View of Naval Society and Manners, 3rd edition, London: Thomas Tegg, page 165",
"text": "I would rather board a hundred of the enemy's frigates, than steer my boat into a fleet of modest women, for a modest woman never fails to take me aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Penelope Fitzgerald, The Beginning of Spring, Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 156",
"text": "Frank was taken aback when Lisa told him that she also needed forgiveness from him, for actions, for words, and for unspoken thoughts.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Rupert Thomson, Soft!, page 292",
"text": "In a way, he was taken aback by the absence of discouragement.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Tanith Lee, White as Snow, New York: Tom Doherty Associates, page 105",
"text": "She was not taken aback to find he lived in a ramshackle log hut among the trees.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Anna Gilbert, A Morning in Eden, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 9",
"text": "She was a little taken aback to find the front door of heavy oak unlocked.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Russell Miller, Behind the Lines: The Oral History of Special Operations in World War II, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 178",
"text": "Zervas was rather taken aback to learn that Ares Veloutiotes, the communist leader, was on his way to the village because there was no friendship between them.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Denis Noble, The Music of Life: Biology beyond genes, page 123",
"text": "The physiologist is taken aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014 July 1, Steve Rose, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: a primate scream - first look review”, in The Guardian",
"text": "They haven't seen humans for years, so when a small expedition, led by Jason Clarke, stumbles into apetopia, both sides are taken aback.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3",
"text": "Most commentators have been taken aback (but reassured) at how opposition has, if anything, grown rather than faded over time.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To surprise or shock; to discomfit."
],
"links": [
[
"surprise",
"surprise"
],
[
"shock",
"shock"
],
[
"discomfit",
"discomfit"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, transitive) To surprise or shock; to discomfit."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Nautical"
],
"glosses": [
"Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly."
],
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical, usually passive) Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly."
],
"tags": [
"passive",
"usually"
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌteɪk əˈbæk/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˌtʰeɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌtæɪk əˈbæk/",
"tags": [
"General-Australian"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˌtʰæɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]",
"tags": [
"General-Australian"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-take aback.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-take_aback.ogg/En-au-take_aback.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-take_aback.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "iznenadvam",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "изненадвам"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "izdebvam",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "издебвам"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "překvapit"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "konsterni"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "ällistyttää"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "järkyttää"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "überraschen"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "xafniázo",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "ξαφνιάζω"
},
{
"code": "ht",
"lang": "Haitian Creole",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "souke"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "bain siar as"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "cogliere di sorpresa"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "prendere alla sprovvista"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "zbić z tropu"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "assustar"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "surpreender"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ošelomljátʹ",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "ошеломля́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ošelomítʹ",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "ошеломи́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "zaxvátyvatʹ vrasplóx",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "захва́тывать враспло́х"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "zastátʹ vrasplóx",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "заста́ть враспло́х"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "cuir iongnadh air"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "iznenaditi"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "osupnuti"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "zapanjiti"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "preneraziti"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "agarrar en curva"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "sorprender"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "pasmar"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "asombrar"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "dejar pasmado"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "dejar estupefacto"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to surprise or shock",
"word": "agarrar de sorpresa"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to catch with sails aback",
"word": "joutua vastatuuleen"
},
{
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "to catch with sails aback",
"word": "pūawhe"
}
],
"word": "take aback"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.