aback Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adverb having the wind against the forward side of the sails
    • the ship came up into the wind with all yards aback
  2. adverb by surprise
    • taken aback by the caustic remarks

WordNet

A*back" adverb
Etymology
Pref. a- + back; AS. on bæc at, on, or toward the back. See Back.
Definitions
  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. Dickens.
Ab"ack noun
Definitions
  1. An abacus. Obs. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913