- 1大吃一驚、愣住（幾乎都用 taken aback，很少單用 aback）。
You almost never use aback on its own. The living phrase is taken aback, which means suddenly very surprised or shocked — so surprised that for a second you stop, as if someone has pushed you backwards. It is a little , but news writers and careful speakers still use it. It often comes with by: taken aback by the news, by her answer, by how blunt he was. The feeling is not mild surprise; it is the kind that makes you blink. The picture behind the phrase is from sailing: if the wind hits the sails from the front, the ship is taken aback and thrown off its course. People then used that picture for a person thrown off balance by news or a remark. You would not say I abacked or I was aback; the shape is be taken aback.
組成From Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc: a- (towards) + back. First of a ship when the wind hits the sails from the front; later of a person caught by surprise.
同家族的字
- backthe same back meaning the rear or behind
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
abackadv詞源 1/əˈbæk/
- 1
archaicTowards the back or rear; backwards.
- The mild, though licentious reign, of Louis the Sixteenth, threw France far aback, in her ambitious career; but it gave birth to that revolution, wherein, her warlike propensities and territorial resources were unfolded with tenfold efficacy.
- Then stopped, and bounded aback, and away as if in fear, / That I saw her no more; then I wondered though sitting close anear / Was a she-wolf great and grisly.
- 2
archaicIn the rear; a distance behind.
- There are so many canes upon Reliance that the labourers could not cut those aback, as they prefer cutting those in front. The cane fields aback were in cultivation last year.
- 3
By surprise; startled; dumbfounded. (see usage)
- 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.
- 4
nauticaltransportBackward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
- Q. Was not the Trident at that time aback with one or more Top-sails? A. To the best of my Knowledge she had both Top-sails aback.
- As the anchor fetches her up, she will swing head to wind, bringing the head sails aback.
abacknoun詞源 2/əˈbæk/
- 1
obsoleteAn inscribed stone square.
- In the Centre, or midst of the Pegm, there was an Aback, or Square, wherein this Elogy was written.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。