An article published in Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.
aback
(adverb) by surprise; “taken aback by the caustic remarks”
aback
(adverb) having the wind against the forward side of the sails; “the ship came up into the wind with all yards aback”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
aback (not comparable)
(archaic) Towards the back or rear; backwards. [First attested prior to 1150.]
(archaic) In the rear; a distance behind. [First attested prior to 1150.]
By surprise; startled; dumbfounded. (see usage)
(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.]
• (by surprise): Preceded by a form of the word take, see take aback.
aback (plural abacks)
(obsolete) An abacus.
Source: Wiktionary
A*back", adv. Etym: [Pref. a- + back; AS. on bæc 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.)
Definition: 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.
Ab"ack, n.
Definition: An abacus. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
17 June 2025
(adjective) having deserted a cause or principle; “some provinces had proved recreant”; “renegade supporters of the usurper”
An article published in Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.