double take

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noun

a rapid or surprised second look, either literal or figurative, at a person or situation whose significance had not been completely grasped at first: His friends did a double take when they saw how much weight he had lost.

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Origin of double take

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Words nearby double take

double sugar, double-system sound recording, doublet, double tackle, double-tailed, double take, double take, do a, double-talk, double tap, double-team, doublethink

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use double take in a sentence

It might make you do a double take, but one of the public amenities is a water feature that is, no lie, a giant puddle.
This Elegant European City Is a Trap|William O’Connor|October 29, 2021|The Daily Beast
Yet this, in the end, is a book from which one emerges sad, gloomy, disenchanted, at least if we agree to take it seriously.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And now, similarly, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee: "Bend over and take it like a prisoner!"
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
ROME — What does it take for a Hollywood A-lister to get a private audience with Pope Francis?
Pope Francis Has the Pleasure of Meeting Angelina Jolie for a Few Seconds|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Although Huckabee's condescending tone - like that of an elementary school history teacher - makes it difficult to take seriously.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Clickbait title notwithstanding, Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Under the one-sixth they appear as slender, highly refractive fibers with double contour and, often, curled or split ends.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
I take the Extream Bells, and set down the six Changes on them thus.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
In treble, second and fourth, the first change is a dodge behind; and the second time the treble leads, there's a double Bob.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
Wycliffe translates the Vulgate: “And it as a modir onourid schal meete hym, and as a womman fro virgynyte schal take him.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
But it was necessary to take Silan, which the rebels hastened to strengthen, closely followed up by the Spaniards.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman

British Dictionary definitions for double take

double take

noun

(esp in comedy) a delayed reaction by a person to a remark, situation, etc

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

double take

Origin of double take

Words nearby double take

Words related to double take

How to use double take in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for double take