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Aback - 6 dictionary results
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a⋅back

  [uh-bak]
Use Aback in a Sentence
–adverb
1. toward the back.
2. Nautical. so that the wind presses against the forward side of the sail or sails.
–adjective Nautical.
3. (of a sail) positioned so that the wind presses against the forward side.
4. (of a yard) positioned so that its sail is laid aback.
—Idiom
5. taken aback, surprised and disconcerted: I was taken aback by his harsh criticism.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME abak, OE on bæc to the rear. See a-1, on, back 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·back   (ə-bāk')   
adv.  
  1. By surprise: He was taken aback by her caustic remarks.
  2. Nautical In such a way that the wind pushes against the forward side of a sail or sails.
  3. Archaic Back; backward.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

Aback

Ab"ack\ ([a^]b"ak), n. An abacus. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Aback
Spanish: desconcertado,
German: bestürzt,
Japanese: あっけにとられる
More Translations »

aback 
O.E. on bæc, "at or on the back." Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression for a sudden change of wind that flattens the square sails back against the masts and stops the forward motion of a ship (1754). The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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aback

see take aback.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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