SURPRISE


Meaning of SURPRISE in English

— 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 surprised me.

2. to come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly: We surprised the children raiding the cookie jar.

3. to make an unexpected assault on (an unprepared army, fort, person, etc.).

4. to elicit or bring out suddenly and without warning: to surprise the facts from the witness.

5. to lead or bring unawares, as into doing something not intended: to surprise a witness into telling the truth.

n.

6. an act or instance of surprising or being surprised.

7. something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement: His announcement was a surprise to all.

8. an assault, as on an army or a fort, made without warning.

9. a coming upon unexpectedly; detecting in the act; taking unawares.

10. take by surprise ,

a. to come upon unawares.

b. to astonish; amaze: The amount of the donation took us completely by surprise.

[ 1425-75; (n.) late ME surpris ( e ), MF, ptp. of surprendre, equiv. to sur- SUR- 1 + pris (masc.), prise (fem.) prensus, -sa, equiv. to prend ( ere ), contracted var. of prehendere to take (see PREHENSION) + -tus, -ta ptp. suffix; (v.) late ME surprisen surpris ( e ) (ptp.), MF, as above ]

Syn. 1. SURPRISE, ASTONISH, AMAZE, ASTOUND mean to strike with wonder because of unexpectedness, strangeness, unusualness, etc. TO SURPRISE is to take unawares or to affect with wonder: surprised at receiving a telegram. TO ASTONISH is to strike with wonder by something unlooked for, startling, or seemingly inexplicable: astonished at someone's behavior. TO AMAZE is to astonish so greatly as to disconcert or bewilder: amazed at such an evidence of stupidity. TO ASTOUND is to so overwhelm with surprise that one is unable to think or act: astounded by the news.

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .