3 definitions found
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 1.6 [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"
more about aback
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Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
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