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off guard
Idioms and Phrases
Also, off one's guard . Not watchful, easily surprised. It is often put as catch (or be caught) off guard , meaning âtake (or be taken) by surprise.â For example, The securities analyst was caught off guard by that financial report , or With any luck the boss will be off guard when I come in late . [Late 1600s] The antonym, on guard or on one's guard , meaning âwatchful or prepared, especially to defend oneself,â was first recorded in 1577. For example, In this crowd we must be on guard against pickpockets , or I'm always on my guard when I'm asked how I voted .Example Sentences
"The fact a global superpower such as the US was paying attention to us at all caught us off guard."
But the weight of the tragedy â and the bizarre juxtapositions of life in the midst of it â often catches him off guard.
But watching the Trump administration appear to flout those institutions now has caught him off guard and made him fearful about doing his job, he said.
An Andong resident who evacuated but lost her home told the BBC her family and their neighbours were caught off guard by the fires.
News of the sale caught the surrounding locals off guard.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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