double take

See synonyms for double take on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. 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.

Origin of double take

1
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use double take in a sentence

  • Kato responded to this with a gruesome double-take that gave his face the fleeting appearance of an ancient samurai war mask.

    The Mercenaries | Henry Beam Piper
  • My heart did a double-take; one slip and he'd be off into the gorge, and the frost stung, melting under his bare fingers.

  • Brad gave a quick glance down into the pit and then did a double take.

  • The whistle came from his lips this time, as he did a double-take at the figure which confronted him.

    Castle of Terror | E.J. Liston
  • He thought of Bette, the inveterate explainer and double-take expert.

    Pagan Passions | Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for double take

double take

noun
  1. (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