Associations to the word «Aback»

Wiktionary

ABACK, adverb. (archaic) Towards the back or rear; backwards. [First attested prior to 1150.]
ABACK, adverb. (archaic) In the rear; a distance behind. [First attested prior to 1150.]
ABACK, adverb. By surprise; startled; dumbfounded.
ABACK, adverb. (nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way. [First attested in the late 17th century.]
ABACK, noun. (obsolete) An abacus.

Dictionary definition

ABACK, adverb. Having the wind against the forward side of the sails; "the ship came up into the wind with all yards aback".
ABACK, adverb. By surprise; "taken aback by the caustic remarks".

Wise words

Life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one's will. Virtue, good, evil are nothing but words, unless one takes them apart in order to build something with them; they do not win their true meaning until one knows how to apply them.
Paul Gauguin