aback
[ uh-bak ]
/ əˈbæk /
adverb
toward the back.
Nautical. so that the wind presses against the forward side of the sail or sails.
adjective Nautical.
(of a sail) positioned so that the wind presses against the forward side.
(of a yard) positioned so that its sail is laid aback.
RELATED CONTENT
What do you call a sandwich made on a roll?Do you call it a sub? A grinder? A hoagie? A poor boy? That all depends on where you live. The Dictionary of American Regional English has been more than 40 years in the making. In the early 60s, lexicographers and linguists led by the University of Wisconsin at Madison sprawled all over the country in search of unique words. They found zin-zins (a duck …
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
Idioms
taken aback, surprised and disconcerted: I was taken aback by his harsh criticism.
Origin of aback
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for aback
aback
/ (əˈbæk) /
adverb
taken aback
- startled or disconcerted
- nautical(of a vessel or sail) having the wind against the forward side so as to prevent forward motion
rare towards the back; backwards
Word Origin for aback
Old English on bæc to the back
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
aback
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
aback
see take aback.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.