Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

surprise

2 verb
     
surprise2 [transitive]
1 to make someone feel surprised [↪ shock]:
His strange question surprised her.
it surprises somebody to see/find/know etc
It had surprised me to find how fussy he was about some things.
I didn't know you two knew each other. Mind you, it doesn't surprise me.
What surprised me most was that she didn't seem to care.
it surprises somebody (that)
Looking back, does it surprise you that she left?
It wouldn't surprise me if he married Jo.
2 to find, catch, or attack someone when they are not expecting it, especially when they are doing something they should not be doing
A security guard surprised the burglars in the storeroom.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary results for "surprise"
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary