take aback

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

take aback
    v 1: surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off; "I was floored
         when I heard that I was promoted" [syn: {shock}, {floor},
         {ball over}, {blow out of the water}, {take aback}]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

19 Moby Thesaurus words for "take aback":
      abash, appall, astound, bowl down, bowl over, confound, discomfit,
      disconcert, dismay, electrify, frighten, jar, jolt, put out, shake,
      shock, stagger, startle, stun

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