surprise

▪ I. surprise, n.
    (səˈpraɪz)
    Forms: see the verb; also 6 Sc. surpryis, 9 Sc. seerpreese.
    [a. AF., OF. surprise (= It., Sp. sorpresa, Pg. surpresa), pa. pple. fem., used subst., of surprendre: see next. Cf. the earlier supprise n.]
    1. Mil. The (or an) act of assailing or attacking unexpectedly or without warning, or of taking by this means; sudden attack or capture of a fort, a body of troops, etc. that is unprepared; † formerly also in more general sense, seizure (of a person, a place, or spoil).

1457 Harding Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. (1912) 747 The wynners had it all withoute surpryse. 1583 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 196/2 Odiosissime et innaturalis surreptionis lie surpryis, captivitatis, restrictionis lie restraint regie persone. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 159 Carefull watches against sallies or surprises of the Enemy. 1635 Heywood Hierarchy ii. 81 æneas caried his..houshold gods into Italy, after the surprise and combustion of Troy. 1645 E. Pagitt Heresiogr. i. 11 The surprise of Munster [which had been besieged 18 months]. 1648 Eikon Bas. xxi. 193 Nor doe I think, that by the surprize of my Letters, I have lost any more then so many papers. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 259 Resolving by Policy or Surprize, to attempt some neglected Quarter of the Antients Army. 1772 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 129/1 Those taken prisoners in the surprize of the baggage. 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v., When it is found expedient to attempt a surprize in the field, a sufficient number of men must be collected for the purpose. 1879 Froude Cæsar xiv. 203 A fortified camp..capable of resisting surprises. Ibid. 220 The surprise was complete: the Roman army was in confusion.

    2. a. gen. The (or an) act of coming upon one unexpectedly, or of taking unawares; a sudden attack. Now rare or Obs. exc. as in b.

1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 131 The guiltinesse of my minde, the sodaine surprize of my powers. 1609 Tourneur Funeral Poem 439 Where sodaine dangers with a fierce access Have made surprise upon him. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 135 Neither packe nor chest is free from their [sc. insects'] surprises. 1796 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 394 This is no casual error, no lapse, no sudden surprise. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent of Man 198 What deer have to arm themselves most against is surprise.

    b. to take by surprise († at a surprise): to come upon unexpectedly, take unawares; hence, to astonish by unexpectedness: = surprise v. 3, 5.

[1687 T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 78 To hinder the wicked from attacking you by surprize.] 1691 tr. Emilianne's Observ. Journ. Naples 305 He might always be sure of his Blow, and could never be taken at a Surprize. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (ed. 3) ii. vii, A rushy pool, which takes you by surprise. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 365 That he was taken by surprise is true. But he had twelve hours to make his arrangements. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xx. 338 This statement, I confess, took me by surprise. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvi. 482 Richard took the kingdom by surprise.

    † c. An attack of illness; a sudden access of emotion. Obs.

1670 W. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 480 She..was at the time of her surprise actually intending the proposal. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 120 In the Heat and Surprize of Passion. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 330 An Excess of Joy, a Surprize of Joy.

    3. a. Something that takes one by surprise; an unexpected occurrence or event; anything unexpected or astonishing.

1592 Arden of Feversham iii. iii. 30 Such great impression tooke this fond surprise. God graunt this vision bedeeme me any good. 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. xii. 639 He was in Bed,..when this news came to him; and doubtless it was convenient for him, that it should find him in that posture, the better to resist so strange a surprize. 1770 Foote Lame Lover iii. 69 My being here was as much a surprize upon Miss Charlot as ―. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 278 They are never any surprize to us. 1870 Mozley Univ. Serm. iv. (1876) 91 Surprises of this kind here..look like auguries of a greater surprise in the next world. 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. iv. 97 Egypt, it has been well said, is the land of surprises.

    b. spec. A fancy dish, or an ingredient of a dish, a present, or the like, designed to take one by surprise.

1708 W. King Cookery v, A Surprize is..a dish..which promising little from its first appearance, when open abounds with all sorts of variety. 1888 Harper's Mag. Jan. 240/1 One lady..worked day and night..to achieve her various ‘surprises’. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. xi, We want you to make us a surprise to put Father's Christmas present in. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs II. 233 Plates of hot dough, with all sorts of juicy surprises inside them.

    4. The feeling or emotion excited by something unexpected, or for which one is unprepared. † a. Alarm, terror, or perplexity, caused by a sudden attack, calamity, or the like. Obs.

1608 Shakes. Per. iii. ii. 17 Our lodgings..Shooke as the earth did quake:..Pure surprize and feare, made me to quite the house. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 221, I have seen them in strange Agitations and Surprises on this Account. 1758 S. Hayward Serm. xvi. 496 Every thing..conspires to fill the soul with gloom and melancholy, nay with the greatest surprize and consternation. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvii, My lord has been in sic a distress, and sic seerpreese, as I ne'er saw man in my life.

    b. The feeling or mental state, akin to astonishment and wonder, caused by an unexpected occurrence or circumstance. Also, in phr. the surprise of one's life(time); cf. of one's life s.v. life n. 8 a.

1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 20 The Vizier, faigning a kind of surprise, And what, said he, Are those Gentlemen still here? 1743 Pococke Descr. East I. ii. v. 122 We went on to the north, the Nile running through the rocks... I ask'd them when we should come to the cataract, and to my great surprize they told me, that was the cataract. a 1763 Shenstone Ess. Wks. 1765 II. 214 Surprise quickens enjoyment, and expectation banishes surprise. 1822 Scott Nigel x, Lord Dalgarno expressed much surprise at understanding that Nigel proposed an instant return to Scotland. 1908 G. K. Chesterton Orthodoxy iii. (1909) 52 By asking for pleasure, he lost the chief pleasure; for the chief pleasure is surprise.

with a. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 357 ¶8 Circumstances which give a delightful Surprize to the Reader. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxvii, She looked with a surprise on Annette. 1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xiii. 138 Cornish..looked at the printed words with a vague surprise.

phr. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 117 The surprise of his lifetime. 1931 Daily Express 15 Oct. 19/3 You will have the surprise of your life.

    c. As int.: surprise, surprise: an exclamation indicating surprise. Sometimes parenthetically. Freq. in irony or sarcasm.

1953 B. Glemser Dove on his Shoulder vi. 111 ‘Roger!’ Miss Marsh laughed. ‘Surprise! Surprise!’ 1962 Times 24 Nov. 4/6 The plum Monday spot finally went—surprise, surprise—to our old friend Naked City. 1970 A. Price Labyrinth Makers xiv. 178 Surprise, surprise! I didn't expect to see you. 1978 I. Murdoch Sea 106, I gather you didn't even know Lizzie was living with Gilbert. Surprise, surprise. Everybody knew that. 1982 N. Painting Reluctant Archer vii. 124 At the end of the programme the identity of the ‘mystery accompanist’ was divulged. It was of course (surprise, surprise!) me!

    5. a. attrib. and Comb., as surprise attack, surprise target, surprise turn, surprise visit, surprise weapon; surprise-free adj.; surprise packet, a sealed packet with contents designed to surprise, sold at a trivial price; also fig.; surprise-party, (a) a body of troops for an unexpected attack; (b) orig. U.S., a party who meet by agreement at a friend's house without invitation, bringing provisions with them; also, the celebration or function itself; surprise-piece, a part of the mechanism of a repeating watch (see quot.).

1900 Daily News 4 Aug. 6/1 Our *surprise attacks only surprised ourselves by the thoroughness of the enemy's preparation for them.

1968 Listener 20 June 791/1 Kahn and Wiener flatly deny that they're making ‘predictions’: they are merely sketching ‘possible scenarios’ for the future, based on what they call ‘*surprise-free projections’.

1900 Westm. Gaz. 15 Sept. 3/2 There is a dash of the ‘*surprise packet’—if the expression may pass—about this bulky volume.

1841 Lever C. O'Malley xlv. 235 Three cavalry regiments..intended for a *surprise party. 1858 H. D. Thoreau Jrnl. 9 Aug. (1906) XI. 86 There are also regattas and fireworks and ‘surprise parties’ and horse-shows. 1860 O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. iv, Now, then, for a surprise-party! 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 236 On such an occasion friends and parishioners appear suddenly—for it is generally a surprise-party at the same time—at the parsonage. 1909 E. Nesbit Daphne in Fitzroy St. xvii. 272, I thought you'd like the surprise party. Was I wrong? 1969 N. W. Parsons Sagebrush Harp xxi. 118 A vogue for surprise parties began among the English families in our community.

1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 254 *Surprise Piece.., a loose plate under the quarter snail of a repeating watch which prevents the quarter rack reaching the snail if the mechanism is set going at the hour.

1894 United Service Mag. Oct. 39 Practice at *surprise targets appearing suddenly at unknown ranges.

1891 C. MacEwen Three Wom. in One Boat 72 *Surprise-turns and crooked bends make you, if you know your river, as crafty as any old fox.

1891 Bp. W. How in F. D. How Mem. xxiii. (1898) 323, I..paid them a *surprise visit.

1946 Rep. Internat. Control Atomic Energy (Dept. of State, Washington) I. 4 This danger is accentuated by the unusual characteristics of atomic bombs, namely their devastating effect as a *surprise weapon, that is, a weapon secretly developed and used without warning.

    b. Bell-ringing. Applied to certain complicated methods of change-ringing.

1874 Banister Change Ringing 16 New Doubles..may be rung by a system generally adopted by experienced ringers in surprise methods. Ibid. 58 London Surprise Major. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 521/2 A variety of ‘plain methods’ and ‘Treble Bob methods’, among the latter being the so⁓called ‘Surprise’ methods, the most complicated and difficult of all.

▪ II. surprise, v.
    (səˈpraɪz)
    Also 5–6 surpryse, 6–9 surprize, (7 -pryze, -price).
    [f. AF., OF. surpris-e, pa. pple. of surprendre (= Pr. sobre-, sorprendre, It. sorprendere, Sp. sorprender, Pg. surprender):—med.L. superprendĕre, *-præhendĕre: see sur- and prehend, and cf. the composition of overtake. See also the earlier supprise and susprise.]
    1. trans. To ‘take hold of’ or affect suddenly or unexpectedly. † a. Chiefly pass. To be seized with (or of) a desire, emotion, etc., a disease or illness. Obs.

1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 231 Thenne ganellon was surprysed wyth thys fals auaryce. 1490 ― Eneydos vi. 28 He shall be soo surprysed wyth angre and furyouse woodnes. c 1500 Melusine i. 10 He was so surprysed of her loue that he coude nat holde contenaunce. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) II. 995/2 The ruler..who surprised with lyke pride and disdaine..caused hys cappe to be hanged vp vpon a pole, chargyng..all..to do obeysance to the cappe. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 315 My mynde being surprised with sorrow. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 17 [They] were suddenly surprised with a great loosenesse. 1611 Bible Isa. xxxiii. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearefulnesse hath surprised the hypocrites. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 296 He was surprised with a burning Feuer. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 753 All on a sudden miserable pain Surpris'd thee. Ibid. vi. 774 Them unexpected joy surpriz'd. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 10 Apr. 1666, Visited Sir William D'Oylle, surprized with a fit of apoplexie. c 1720 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 39 Surprised with joy at the motion.

    † b. To overcome, overpower (the mind, will, heart); to captivate. Obs.

1474 Caxton Chesse iii. vi. (1883) 132 So that ye wyn or drynke surpryse hym and ouercome his brayn. 1481 ― Myrrour i. v. 26 The moneye hath so surprysed them that they may extende to none other thinge. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iii. i. 10 The eare-deaff'ning Voyce o th' Oracle,..so surpriz'd my Sence, That I was nothing. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 84, I may be surprised with errour, but not corrupted. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 14 A fair skin surpriseth a fleshly heart. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. iv. i, Pow'r, like new Wine, does your weak Brain surprize. a 1700 Evelyn Diary (Chandos Classics) 17 So..temperate, that I have heard he had never been surprised by excesse.

    c. absol. or intr.

a 1700 Evelyn Diary 8 Feb. 1645, The vapours ascend so hot that entring with the body erect you will even faint with excessive perspiration, but stooping lower as suddaine a cold surprizes.

    2. a. Mil., etc. To assail or attack suddenly and without warning; to make an unexpected assault upon (a place, body of troops, person, etc. that is unprepared); † to take or capture in this way.

a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 222 b, By some gyle or engyne sodaynly to trap and surprise the erle. 1611 Bible Jer. xlviii. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. 29 His march was secret enough, though he hastened it to surprise Surrat. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 27/1 Lowe built boates..which..will strike to the sides of great shippes, and with their guns..either suddenly surprice the same or sinke it. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 1 ¶8 The Enemy had formed a Design to surprize two Battalions of the Allies. 1803 J. Porter Thaddeus ii. (1831) 16 A plan was laid for surprising and taking the royal person. 1808 Scott Life Dryden D.'s Wks. 1882 I. 173 A man, surprised in the dark and beaten by ruffians, loses no honour by such a misfortune. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. vi. 459 Every effort to take or surprise the Norman outpost was rendered hopeless. 1888 J. F. Maurice Milit. Hist. Camp. 1882 xii. 73 An army suddenly attacked within the lines which it had reckoned upon to ward off its enemy is in a military sense surprised.

    † b. gen. To capture, seize; to take possession of by force; to take prisoner. Obs.

1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 284 Treason my Lord, Lauinia is surpris'd. 1593 ― 2 Hen. VI, iv. ix. 8 Is the Traitor Cade surpris'd? 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine ix. 41 Some he beheaded, others banisht, and all their goods were surprised. Ibid. xv. 65 Surprizing the kingdome to himself. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 94 When Nigropont, and diuerse other Iles were surprised from the Venetians. 1661 Act 13 Chas. II c. 9 §6 Ships which shall be surprised or seized as prize. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 453 He [sc. Messiah]..there shall surprise The Serpent, Prince of aire, and drag in Chaines Through all his realme. 1799 Sheridan Pizarro ii. i, A servant of mine, I hear is missing, whether surprised or treacherous I know not.

fig. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. x. 90 Thy tresses, Ariadnes twines, Wherewith my libertie thou hast surprisde.

    † c. To hold in one's power, occupy. Obs.

1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 24 Consideryng..that the Isle of Rhoodes..is surprised by the Turke. 1607 Dekker & Webster Sir T. Wyat A 2 b, With me, that in my handes, Surprise the Soueraigntie.

    † d. To rescue or deliver as by force, ‘snatch’ (from something). Obs. rare^—1.

1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2258/2 As also in your unparalell'd Clemency, by which you have surprized your distressed Subjects from the jaws of Ruine.

    3. a. To come upon unexpectedly; to take unawares; to take or catch in the act; hence fig. to find or discover (something) suddenly, to detect.

1592 Soliman & Pers. ii. ii. 264 If the Gouernour Surprise me heere, I die by marshall law. 1655 tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion xii. 22 The Italian seeing himself surprized did..intreat him to give him leave to be gone. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 244 We were surprized by a calm, which kept us in the same place all that day. 1665 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 168 A meeting at Wrexham surprisd,..some payd 5lb some went to prison for 3 months accord. to the Act. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 2 Feb. 1665, I saw a masq perform'd at Court by 6 gentlemen and 6 ladys, surprizing his Majesty, it being Candlemas-day. 1726 Pope Odyss. xix. 686 Ulysses will surprize the unfinish'd game. 1803–6 Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. 148 High instincts before which our mortal Nature Did tremble like a guilty Thing surprised. 1879 J. Grant in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 96/1 In order to surprise Nature in her wonders, he was wont to perambulate the garden..lantern in hand. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. I. 202/1 note, In the Finale..we almost surprise the change of style in the act of being made. 1886 Ruskin Præterita II. vi. 193, I never travelled in bad weather unless surprised by it. 1890 ‘M. Maartens’ Sir J. Avelingh xv, He had surprised an ugly secret about a Government tender.

    † b. ? To ‘overtake’, anticipate. Obs. rare^—1.

1591 Nashe Prognost. A 4, The effects cannot surprise the cause.

    † c. causatively. To introduce unexpectedly, ‘spring’ upon some one. Obs. rare^—1.

1769 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 75/1 To support the re-election, lest any candidate in the opposite interest should have been..attempted to be surprized upon the county.

    4. † a. To implicate or ensnare (a person) as by a sudden proposal or disclosure. Obs.

1642 Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 91 Not willing to use his old friendship..in a way to surprize his judgments. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 354 Least by some faire appeering good surpris'd She [sc. Reason] dictate false, and missinforme the Will. 1702 Vanbrugh False Friend v. i, If I did not know he was in love with Leonora, I could be easily surprized with what he has told me.

    b. To lead unawares, betray into doing something not intended.

1696 Phillips (ed. 5), To Surprise,..to lead a Man into an Error, by causing him to do a thing over hastily. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 112 ¶3 If by chance he has been surprized into a short Nap at Sermon. 1742 Act 15 Geo. II c. 30 Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may..be liable to be surprised into unsuitable Marriages. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. ii, Many..whose feelings surprised them into a very natural interest in his behalf. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xvii, He had never yet met any woman who had so surprised him into admiration.

    5. a. To affect with the characteristic emotion caused by something unexpected; to excite to wonder by being unlooked-for. † Formerly also in stronger sense (cf. surprise n. 4 a), to astonish or alarm; also, to excite to admiration. Often pass., const. at († with) or inf.; colloq. to be surprised at = to be scandalized or shocked at; also as a retort: you'd be surprised, the facts are not as you would think.

1655 Theophania 103 Alexandro acquainted him with the occasion of their coming thither, with which he was exceedingly surprised at first. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 248 They..have Secrets which surprize the most knowing, many thinking them to be knacks of Magick. 1692 L'Estrange Fables lxxi, People were not so much Frighted, as they were Surpriz'd at the Bigness, and Uncouth Deformity of the Camel. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 156, I was exceedingly surpriz'd with the Print of a Man's naked Foot on the Shore. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iii. i, You'll be surpriz'd, Sir, with this visit. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xlvii, The apparition of the dead comes not..to terrify or to surprise the timid. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxx, Macbriar..was surprised at the degree of agitation which Balfour displayed. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. vi, ‘You surprise me.’ ‘I tell you truth,’ said George. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xii. 88, I was surprised..to find some veins of white ice. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxi. 256 And yet you talk our language well—really very well. I am agreeably surprised. 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 16/2 You'd be surprised, admitting entire satisfaction with results. 1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair x. 102 ‘What else could she have been doing?’..Robert bit back a ‘You'd be surprised!’ 1964 ‘E. McBain’ Ax v. 82 ‘I don't think the boys would know without your knowing too.’..‘Sometimes... You'd be surprised.’ 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird ii. 19 ‘The emergency situation is perhaps more frequent in medicine than in portrait-painting.’ ‘You'd be surprised,’ said the man Johnson gently.

absol. 1684 Earl Roscom. Ess. Transl. Verse 146 On sure Foundations let your Fabrick Rise, And with inviting Majesty surprise. 1781 Cowper Charity 544 The turns are quick, the polish'd points surprise. 1845 R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. ii. (1846) 30 It is..to be doubted, whether any class of Society be so strictly moral [as the poor]. The statement may at first surprise.

    b. intr. for pass.

1943 Mod. Lang. Notes LVIII. 14 They wanted to surprise me, but I don't surprise so easy. 1978 Guardian Weekly 1 Jan. 20/4 You don't drive cabs in Harlem if you surprise easily.

    † 6. Cookery. To dress or serve in the manner of a ‘surprise’. Obs.

1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 103 A Shoulder of Mutton surprized.

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