aback

«aback» in Mova's school dictionary: to be surprised or shocked by something unexpected, so… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (taken aback)

meaning for a pupil

To be taken aback means to be surprised or shocked by something unexpected, so that you are thrown off balance. tree →

sense in the lessons

how characters react to a sudden surprise or harsh words; a bird or child who is startled but not hurt

examples

• I was taken aback when Sam shouted my name. tree →
• She was taken aback by the news. tree →
• The little bird was taken aback by the sharp words. tree →
• Dad was taken aback at how late it was. tree →

note

nothing for maths

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «aback» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.