surprise (serpriz)

[Formerly also surprize; Æneas caried his Penates or houshold gods into Italy, after the surprise and combustion of Troy. Heywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 81. He [King John] won more of his Enemies by Surprizes than by Battels. Baker , Chronicles, p. 75. 2. The state of being seized with astonishment; an emotion excited by something happening suddenly and unexpectedly; astonishment; amazement. We went on to the north, the Nile running through the rocks. The people knew I came to see the cataract, and stood still; I ask'd them when we should come to the cataract, and, to my great surprise, they told me that was the cataract. Pococke, Description of the East, I. 122. Surprise can only come from getting a sensation which differs from the one we expect. W. James, Prin. of Psychol., II. 502. 3. Anything which causes the feeling of surprise, as an unexpected event or a novel and striking thought. Her blue eyes upturned, As if life were one long and sweet surprise . Browning , Pippa Pa es. I have always contended, in addition, for the existence of states of neutral excitement, where we are mentally alive, and, it may be, to an intense degree. Perhaps the best example of these is the excitement of a surprise . A. Bain , Emotions and Will, p. 563. surquidous Mr. Hallam reprobates, in language which has a little surprised us, the nineteen propositions into which the Parliament digested its scheme. Macaulay , Hallam's Const. Hist. I should not be surprised if they were cried next Sabbath. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 6. Whatever happens, the practical man is sure to be sur prised; for, of all the ways in which things may turn out, the way in which he expects them to turn out is always the one which is the least likely of all. E. A. Freeman , Amer. Lects., p. 450. 5. To lead or bring unawares; betray; lead (a person) to do or say something without previous intention: with into: as, to be surprised into making a confe ion or an explanation. For if by chance he has been surprised into a short Nap at Sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks about him, and, if he sees any Body else nodding, either wakes them himself, or sends his Servant to them. Add is on, Spectator, No. 112. It was not the new words he [Chaucer] introduced, but his way of using the old ones, that surprised them into grace, ease, and dignity in their own despite. Lowell , Study Windows, p. 258. 6t. To hold po e ion of; hold. IMG:content-2559.png:[blocks in formation] Webster . =Syn. 4. Surprise, Astonish, Amaze, Astound, startle. The italicized words are in the order of strength. They expre the effect upon the mind of that which is unexpected and perhaps sudden. To surprise is, literally, to take unawares or suddenly, to affect with wonder: as, I am sur prised to find you here. Astonish applies especially to that which is great or striking. Amaze, literally, to put into a maze, is used to expre perturbation or bewilderment in one's surprise, and naturally therefore belongs to that which closely concerns one's self or is incomprehensible. To astound is to overwhelm with surprise, to make dumb, helple , or unable to think. We are surprised at a thing because we did not expect it, astonished because of its remarkablene in some respect, amazed because we cannot understand how it came to pa , astounded so that we do not know what to think or do.