aback
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1 surprised or shocked (adv.) B2 Upper Intermediatesurprised or shocked by something unexpected.
startled or disconcerted by a sudden development; almost exclusively used in the passive construction 'to be taken aback'.
ExampleI was taken aback by how much the city had changed since my last visit.
ExampleThe CEO was visibly taken aback by the shareholders' blunt refusal to approve the proposed merger during the annual meeting.
Teacher's tipLearners should treat 'taken aback' as a single lexical unit rather than trying to use 'aback' on its own.
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2 sails pressed backwards (adv.) C2 Proficiency Technical Sciencewhen the wind blows against the front of a ship's sails, pushing them back against the mast.
the state of a ship's square sails when pressed against the mast by a headwind. Used as a predicative adverb.
ExampleThe ship was caught aback by a sudden change in the wind's direction.
ExampleThe vessel was laid aback to reduce its headway, allowing the crew to safely lower the lifeboats into the swelling sea.
Teacher's tipThis is the original nautical source of the common idiom; it is rarely encountered outside of maritime history or technical sailing manuals.
From Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc, equivalent to a- (“towards”) + back. Compare West Frisian tebek (“aback”, adverb, literally “to/at back”), Swedish tillbaka (idem.).
From Latin abacus.
Almost always follows the verb 'to be' and the past participle 'taken'.
The news took me aback.I was taken aback by the news.While 'take someone aback' is grammatically possible, the passive form 'be taken aback' is the standard idiomatic usage.