Hypertext Webster Gateway: "aback"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Aback \Ab"ack\ ([a^]b"ak), n.
An abacus. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Aback \A*back"\ ([.a]*b[a^]k"), adv. [Pref. a- + back; AS. on
b[ae]c at, on, or toward the back. See {Back}.]
1. Toward the back or rear; backward. ``Therewith aback she
started.'' --Chaucer.

2. Behind; in the rear. --Knolles.

3. (Naut.) Backward against the mast; -- said of the sails
when pressed by the wind. --Totten.

{To be taken aback}.
(a) To be driven backward against the mast; -- said of the
sails, also of the ship when the sails are thus
driven.
(b) To be suddenly checked, baffled, or discomfited.
--Dickens.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

aback
adv 1: having the wind against the forward side of the sails; "the
ship came up into the wind with all yards aback"
2: by surprise; "taken aback by the caustic remarks"


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