take by surprise
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It could now be seen that those who handled the oars were trying to make less noise, as though desirous of not arousing the sleepers they expected to take by surprise.
From Motor Boat Boys Mississippi Cruise or, The Dash for Dixie by Arundel, Louis
Mr. Elster walked slowly through the village on his way to Hartledon, whose inmates he would presently take by surprise.
From Elster's Folly by Wood, Henry, Mrs.
He then prepared for a bold and sudden movement, which should take by surprise one flank of our army.
From Three Years in the Sixth Corps A Concise Narrative of Events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the Close of the Rebellion, April, 1865 by Stevens, George T.
I expect to take by surprise a newly-married pair in their honeymoon, and I find a state of things here which I should never have supposed possible.
From Success and How He Won It by Werner, E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers)
She was taken by surprise, as was intended, but she was a woman whom it was not wise to take by surprise, if you wanted her to show you what was in her mind.
From The Eldest Son by Marshall, Archibald
