(n.) The act of coming upon, or taking, unawares; the act of seizing unexpectedly; surprisal; as, the fort was taken by surprise.
(n.) The state of being surprised, or taken unawares, by some act or event which could not reasonably be foreseen; emotion excited by what is sudden and strange; a suddenly excited feeling of wonder or astonishment.
(n.) Anything that causes such a state or emotion.
(n.) A dish covered with a crust of raised paste, but with no other contents.
(n.) To come or fall suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares; to seize or capture by unexpected attack.
(n.) To strike with wonder, astonishment, or confusion, by something sudden, unexpected, or remarkable; to confound; as, his conduct surprised me.
(n.) To lead (one) to do suddenly and without forethought; to bring (one) into some unexpected state; -- with into; as, to be surprised into an indiscretion; to be surprised into generosity.
(n.) To hold possession of; to hold.
Example Sentences:
(1) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
(2) Surprisingly, the clonal elimination of V beta 6+ cells is preceded by marked expansion of these cells.
(3) Given Australia’s number one position as the worst carbon emitter per capita among major western nations it seems hardly surprising that islanders from Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and other small island developing states have been turning to Australia with growing exasperation demanding the country demonstrate an appropriate response and responsibility.
(4) S&P – the only one of the three major agencies not to have stripped the UK of its coveted AAA status – said it had been surprised at the pick-up in activity during 2013 – a year that began with fears of a triple-dip recession.
(5) Why is it so surprising to people that a boy like Chol, just out of conflict, has thought through the needs of his country in such a detailed way?” While Beah’s zeal is laudable, the situation in South Sudan is dire .
(6) Diabetic retinopathy (an index of microangiopathy) and absence of peripheral pulses, amputation, or history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or transient ischemic attacks (as evidence of macroangiopathy) caused surprisingly little increase in relative risk for cardiovascular death.
(7) Just don’t be surprised if they ask you to repair their phones, too.
(8) One surprising finding is that the MAL1g-encoded maltose permease exhibits little sequence homology to the MAL1-encoded maltose permease though they appear to be functionally homologous.
(9) Surprisingly, however, despite the severe defect in viral DNA replication, the synthesis of a few species of viral late proteins continues in cells infected by some of the E1B mutants.
(10) Thus, during treatment with ethambutol visually (pattern) evoked potentials may reveal a surprisingly high percentage of subclinical optic neuritis.
(11) Somewhat surprisingly then, in view of the mechanisms in mammals, birds do not seem to use this seasonal message in the photoperiodic control of reproduction.
(12) Infants were habituated to models posing either prototypically positive displays (e.g., happy expressions) or positive expression blends (e.g., mock surprise).
(13) The BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said: "It was no surprise to see the January mortgage figures falling back from December, when transactions were being pushed through to beat the end of stamp duty relief.
(14) "We knew people would be interested in the announcement, but it's fair to say that the scale of the excitement, right across the world, took us all by surprise.
(15) When you have champions of financial rectitude such as the International Monetary Fund and OECD warning of the international risk of an "explosion of social unrest" and arguing for a new fiscal stimulus if growth continues to falter, it's hardly surprising that tensions in the cabinet over next month's spending review are spilling over.
(16) Myelodysplastic preleukemic syndromes (MDPS) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) share a surprising in vivo sensitivity to the hormonally acting 13 cis or all trans retinoic acids (transRA).
(17) Apple has come out fighting, which is no surprise given the remarkable success that the company has seen in recent years.
(18) His words surprised some because of an impression that the US was unwilling to talk about these issues.
(19) A teaching union has questioned appointment of a trustee of Britain's largest academy chain group as chairman of the schools regulator Ofsted , in what was a surprise announcement meant to calm some of the internal conflicts within the coalition.
(20) Given that a post-poll economy still registers as a crucial issue among undecided voters, and that matters economic are now his BBC day job, that was hardly surprising.
Wonderment
Definition:
(n.) Surprise; astonishment; a wonderful appearance; a wonder.
Example Sentences:
(1) The information about her father's semi-brainwashing forms an interesting backdrop to Malala's comments when I ask if she ever wonders about the man who tried to kill her on her way back from school that day in October last year, and why his hands were shaking as he held the gun – a detail she has picked up from the girls in the school bus with her at the time; she herself has no memory of the shooting.
(2) He said: "This is a wonderful town but Tesco will suck the life out of the greengrocers, butchers, off-licence, and then it is only a matter of time for us too.
(3) All 17 candidates are going to be participating in debate night and I think that’s a wonderful opportunity Reince Priebus Republican party officials have defended the decision to limit participation, pointing out that the chasing pack will get a chance to debate separately before the main event.
(4) But in the rush to design it, Girardet wonders if the finer details of waste disposal and green power were lost.
(5) Two years ago I met a wonderful man and we now feel it’s time to tie the knot.
(6) No evidence has been produced that she was personally involved in the bribery, but some are wondering whether the Petrobras scandal might turn into a Watergate for her.
(7) But she has struggled – quite awkwardly – to articulate her evolution on same-sex marriage, and has left environmental activists wondering what her exact energy policy is.
(8) With grievous amazement, never self-pitying but sometimes bordering on a sort of numbed wonderment, Levi records the day-to-day personal and social history of the camp, noting not only the fine gradations of his own descent, but the capacity of some prisoners to cut a deal and strike a bargain, while others, destined by their age or character for the gas ovens, follow "the slope down to the bottom, like streams that run down to the sea".
(9) Would it best best to risk a Great Reform Bill (shades of 1832) - or would piecemeal reform be best, some wonder?
(10) He added: “From what we’ve seen so far, Londoners can be forgiven for wondering if Zac will be a mayor who works to bring London’s diverse communities together or one who will drive them apart.” Others evince real surprise over Goldsmith’s stance.
(11) Given this bipartisan strategy to minimise commitments, there is little wonder that voter turnout also reached a historical low, with less than two thirds bothering to vote in the east.
(12) As he sits in Athens wondering when the International Monetary Fund is going to deliver another bailout, George Papandreou might be tempted to hum a few lines of Tired of Waiting for You.
(13) KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE "Having watched 42-year-old Kevin Poole turn out for Derby recently, I wondered 'have any grandfathers ever played league football?'
(14) "My wonderful, brave and adored father, Jack Ashley, Lord Ashley of Stoke, has died after a short battle with pneumonia."
(15) Had not Jaggers summoned me to see him on the day of my majority some years later, I might have wondered at the psychological implausibility of an old woman training a child to be a psychopath, but luckily I was so caught up by the possibility of my benefactor's name being revealed that the thought quite slipped my mind.
(16) I believe you are aware of the meeting – and so wondered if 3pm or later on Thursday works for you?
(17) Facebook Twitter Pinterest May dismisses reports of frosty dinner with EU chief as ‘Brussels gossip’ The EU delegation are said to have wondered whether Davis might still be in his post following the general election.
(18) One of the punters came up to me after and said that I seemed confident, but he’d spent the whole time wondering when I was going to tell a joke.
(19) In north Wales, Llandudno town council has had to cancel its annual display at short notice after it was told it would have to pay at least £22,000 to insure the wonderful Victorian pier in case of a fire.
(20) No wonder public discussion of this most unexpected scientific development has so far been muted and respectful, waiting for the expert community that discovered the anomaly by accident – the Opera experiment at Gran Sasso was devised to isolate different varieties of neutrino, not to test Einstein – to work out what it all means, or doesn't.