A*back" (#), adv. [Pref. a- + back; AS. on baec at, on, or toward the back. See Back.]
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.
To be taken aback. (a) To be driven backward against the mast; -- said of the sails, also of the ship when the sails are thus driven. (b) To be suddenly checked, baffled, or discomfited.
Dickens.
© Webster 1913.
Ab"ack (#), n.
An abacus.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.
© Webster 1913.