take by surprise

present singular third person takes by surprise · participle present taking by surprise · past took by surprise · participle past taken by surprise

1. To occur to someone when unexpected; to surprise.

   Kazakhstan's shooting team was taken by surprise when a spoof national anthem from the film Borat was used at a medal ceremony in Kuwait.

   2012 March 23, Barry Neild, “Borat's version of Kazakh anthem played at Kuwait medal ceremony”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Both the South Korean government and US forces in the region appear to have been taken by surprise by Trump’s declared suspension of joint exercises.

   2018 June 12, Julian Borger, “US to suspend military exercises with South Korea, Trump says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   No substitute bus services could be organised, and it is almost as though the train operator has been taken by surprise by the non-attendance of staff who appear to have made themselves unavailable - whether or not the diagram concerned was covered by overtime.

   2023 December 13, 'Industry Insider', “Delivering a robust timetable”, in RAIL, number 998, page 68