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| a·back [ ə bák ] |
adverb |
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| Definition: |
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1. sailing with wind blowing toward bow: with the wind blowing against the forward part of a sail or sails, so that a vessel cannot move ahead
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2. backward: backward or toward the back
(
archaic
)
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3. Caribbean formerly: in the past
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| [ Old English on bæc "toward the back, backward"] |
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aback of Caribbean in back of
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take somebody aback to surprise somebody and make him or her unsure how to react
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