Dictionary.com
definitions

aback

[uh-bak]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aback ON THESAURUS.COM

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 …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

surprised, confused

Nearby words

  1. abac,
  2. abaca,
  3. abaci,
  4. abaciscus,
  5. abacist,
  6. abaco,
  7. abacterial,
  8. abactinal,
  9. abaculus,
  10. abacus

Idioms

    taken aback, surprised and disconcerted: I was taken aback by his harsh criticism.

Origin of aback

before 1000; Middle English abak, Old English on bæc to the rear. See a-1 on, back1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for aback

British Dictionary definitions for aback

aback

adverb

taken aback
  1. startled or disconcerted
  2. 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
Word Origin and History for aback

aback

adv.

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
Idioms and Phrases with aback

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.