Aback

Definitions: Aback

Aback

Adverb

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".

Date "aback" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Aback I was taken aback - I was greatly astonished - taken by surprise - startled. It is a sea term. A ship is "taken aback" when the sails are suddenly carried by the wind back against the mast, instantly staying the ship's progress - very dangerous in a strong gale. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Inexpectation	Surprise, startle, take aback, electrify, stun, stagger, take away one's breath, throw off one's guard; astonish, dumbfound; (strike with wonder).
Rear	After, aft, abaft, astern, sternmost, aback, rearward.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Aback

English words defined with "aback": Abox ♦ Boxhaul ♦ inhospitality ♦ take aback, To bagpipe the mizzen, To broach to. (references)

Speaker	Phrase(s)
Lynne Cheney	Well, when we were in private life, I think I liked that better. And I was a bit taken aback when Dick decided to run for vice president. In fact, we came on your show and I've since watched that tape. And I look like I was shellshocked.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"Aback" is generally used as an adverb (general) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Aback" is used about 327 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adverb (general)	100%	327	15,903

Expressions using "aback": be taken aback ♦ take aback ♦ taken aback ♦ To be taken aback. Additional references.
Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "aback": taken-aback.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "aback"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaan		agterwaarts (backward, backwards), agteruit (backward, backwards), agteroor (back, backward, backwards, on one's back). (various references)

Albanian		prapa (after, astern, back, backward, behind, overleaf). (various references)

Arabic		‏الى الوراء (backward, backwards, in reverse). (various references)

Bulgarian		назад (about, aft, after, astern, back, backward, behind, lunge, rearwards, sternward), заднишком (backwards), изотзад. (various references)

Chinese		向后. (various references)

Czech		dozadu (back, backwards, rearward, rearwards). (various references)

Dutch		rugwaarts (backward, backwards, dorsad), achterwaarts (backward, backwards, retrograde), achteruit (back, backward, backwards, forward, reverse). (various references)

Esperanto		surprize, malantaŭen (backwards). (various references)

Faeroese		aftur (afresh, again, all over again, anew, back, backward, backwards, once more, re-). (various references)

Farsi		پرت (Desultory, Faraway, Hurl, Remote, Solitary, Wide), ناگهان (Abrupt, Bolt, Slapdash, Sudden, Unaware, Unawares), قهقراءی , غافلگیر, به عقب (Back). (various references)

Finnish		ymmällä (bewildered, confused, perplexed, taken aback), hämmästyä (be amazed, be astonished, be surprised, be taken aback), ällistyä (be amazed, be dumbfounded, be taken aback). (various references)

French		étonné. (various references)

Frisian		tebek (backward, backwards), efteroer (back, backward, backwards, on one's back). (various references)

German		rückwärts (afterwards, at the back, backlink, backward, backwards, behind, rearwards, regress), erstaunt (amazed, amazedly, astonished, astonishes, staggered, wonderingly). (various references)

Greek		προσ τα πίσω (backwards, rear wards), εκπληκτικά (amazingly, astonishingly). (various references)

Hebrew		אחור�" (back part of shoe, backwards), אחור� ית (abaft, astern, backwards, in reverse, rearwards). (various references)

Hungarian		visszafelé (backwards, contrariwise), hátra (astern, back, backwards, behind, over, rearwards). (various references)

Icelandic		aftur á bak (backward, backwards). (various references)

Indonesian		bergerak ke belakang. (various references)

Italian		indietro (back, backward, backwards, behind, fro), di dietro (back, behind, rear, rearward). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		仰天 (being amazed, being horrified, being taken aback). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ぎょうて�" (being amazed, being horrified, being taken aback, dawn), あっけ (dumbfounded, taken aback), はっと (taken aback). (various references)

Manx		cheu chooylloo (behind, rearside, rearward). (various references)

Norwegian		tilbake (back, backward, backwards). (various references)

Pig Latin		abackay.(various references)

Portuguese		para trás (astern, back, backward, backwards, rearwards). (various references)

Romanian		înapoi (astern, back, backward, backwards), în urmã (abaft, after, ago, back, backward, backwards, behind, behindhand, in arrear of, slow), în spate (abaft, astern, behind, rearwards). (various references)

Russian		назад (astern, back, backward, backwards, rearward, rearwards). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		zapanjen (astonished, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, wonder-stricken), iznenadjen (abrupt). (various references)

Spanish		atrás (after, astern, at the back, back, backward, backwards, behind, in the rear). (various references)

Swedish		bakåt (back, backward, backwards, in reverse, kungsljus). (various references)

Tagalog		pauróng (backward, backwards). (various references)

Turkish		pupada, kıç tarafta (abaft, aft), geriye (astern, back, backward, backwards, behind, re-, retro-), geri (back, backward, backwards, behind, hind, posterior, re-, rear, rearward, rest, retro-, reverse, reversing, slow), geríye doğru (backward, backwards). (various references)

Ukranian		назад (astern, back, backward, backwards, counter, hark back, keep back, rearward, rearwards), задки (backward, rearward, rearwards), задом, позаду (abaft, after, back, behind). (various references)

Vietnamese		ngạc nhiên (wondering), lùi lại (back, recessive, retrocessive). (various references)

Welsh		yn o+l (according to, after, ago, backward, behind). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	deprehensus. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words ending with "aback": huckaback, pickaback. (additional references)
	Words containing "aback": huckabacks, pickabacked, pickabacking, pickabacks. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Aback" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aaaack, aabbcc, Aabcc, aac, aacc, aak, abace, abaco, abacu, abak, abax, abbok, abec, Abiko, ablark, abock, abuke, Abuko, Acak, Adac, aeac, afaik, Aibmac, anack, apack, Asakku, atack, ayak, babaco, Banacek, ebac, gabakt, Jabach. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "aback" (pronounced uba"k)
3	-b a" k	back.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-k"
	-1 letter: back.
	-2 letters: aba, baa, cab, kab.
	-3 letters: aa, ab, ba, ka.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-k"
	+2 letters: backsaw, barrack, fatback, payback.
	+3 letters: backache, backbeat, backcast, backchat, backdate, backhand, backhaul, backland, backlash, backpack, backsaws, backseat, backslap, backstab, backstay, backtalk, backward, backwash, backwrap, backyard, bankcard, bareback, barracks, blackcap, callback, clambake, claybank, drawback, fallback, fastback, fatbacks, grayback, halfback, hardback, packable, paybacks, playback, scatback, snapback, swayback, tailback.
	+4 letters: amberjack, antiblack, backaches, backbeats, backboard, backcasts, backchats, backdated, backdates, backhands, backhauls, backlands, backpacks, backpedal, backseats, backslaps, backslash, backspace, backstabs, backstage, backstays, backtalks, backtrack, backwards, backwater, backwraps, backyards, bankcards, barracked, barracker, blackball, blackcaps, blackface, blackhead, blackjack, blackland, blacklead, blackmail, blacktail, callbacks, camelback, canebrake, carryback, clambakes, claybanks, crackback, drawbacks, fallbacks, fastbacks, flashback, graybacks, halfbacks, hardbacks, hatchback, huckaback, katabatic, lampblack, leaseback, packboard, paperback, pickaback, playbacks, razorback, scatbacks, snapbacks, stackable, swaybacks, tackboard, tailbacks, trackball, whaleback.
	+5 letters: amberjacks, backboards, backdating, backgammon, backhanded, backhander, backhauled, backlashed, backlasher, backlashes, backpacked, backpacker, backpedals, backspaced, backspaces, backsplash, backstairs, backtracks, backwardly, backwashed, backwashes, backwaters, barebacked, barrackers, barracking, blackamoor, blackballs, blackboard, blackfaces, blackguard, blackheads, blackheart, blackjacks, blacklands, blackleads, blackmails, blacksnake, blacktails, blackwater, camelbacks, canebrakes, canvasback, carrybacks, chalkboard, crackbacks, crackbrain, flashbacks, hatchbacks, huckabacks, jackrabbit, lampblacks, leasebacks, packboards, paperbacks, pickabacks, razorbacks, swaybacked, tackboards, trackballs, whalebacks.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.