to take someone by surprise
21surprise — 1. noun 1) Kate looked at me in surprise Syn: astonishment, amazement, wonder, incredulity, bewilderment, stupefaction, disbelief 2) the test came as a big surprise Syn: shock, bolt from the blue, bombshell, r …
22take off guard — catch/take (someone) off guard to surprise someone by doing or saying something they were not expecting. One of the larger airlines caught its rivals off guard yesterday by suddenly announcing a cut in fares. When they asked me to babysit, I was… …
23surprise — [sər prīz′, sə prīz′] vt. surprised, surprising [ME surprysen < OFr surpris, pp. of sorprendre, to surprise, take napping < sur (see SUR 1) + prendre, to take (see PRIZE2)] 1. to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly; take unawares 2. to at …
24catch someone unawares — catch/take/someone unawares phrase to surprise someone, often making them feel confused or embarrassed Burchill’s shot caught the goalkeeper completely unawares. Thesaurus: to make someone feel shocked or surprisedsynonym Main entry: unawares …
25surprise — sur·prise n 1: a condition or situation in which a party to a proceeding is unexpectedly placed without any fault or neglect of his or her own and that entitles the party to relief (as a new trial) 2: an aspect of procedural unconscionability… …
26throw someone a curve — idi to take someone by surprise, esp. so as to cause chagrin …
27catch someone flat-footed — informal take someone by surprise the rise of regional conflicts has caught military planners flat footed …
28take aback — ► take aback shock or surprise (someone). Main Entry: ↑aback …
29surprise — sur|prise1 W2S3 [səˈpraız US sər ] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(event)¦ 2¦(feeling)¦ 3 take/catch somebody by surprise 4 take somebody/something by surprise 5¦(gift/party etc)¦ 6 surprise guest/visitor etc 7 surprise! 8 9¦(method)¦ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ [ …
30surprise — surprisedly /seuhr pruy zid lee, pruyzd , seuh /, adv. surpriser, n. /seuhr pruyz , seuh /, v., surprised, surprising, n. v.t. 1. to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty… …
