From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Astonish \As*ton"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Astonished}; p. pr.
& vb. n. {Astonishing}.] [OE. astonien, astunian, astonen,
OF. estoner, F. ['e]tonner, fr. L. ex out + tonare to
thunder, but perhaps influenced by E. stun. See {Thunder},
{Astound}, {Astony}.]
1. To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Enough, captain; you have astonished him. [Fluellen
had struck Pistol]. --Shak.
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The very cramp-fish [i. e., torpedo] . . . being
herself not benumbed, is able to astonish others.
--Holland.
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2. To strike with sudden fear, terror, or wonder; to amaze;
to surprise greatly, as with something unaccountable; to
confound with some sudden emotion or passion.
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Musidorus . . . had his wits astonished with sorrow.
--Sidney.
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I, Daniel . . . was astonished at the vision. --Dan.
viii. 27.
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Syn: To amaze; astound; overwhelm; surprise.
Usage: {Astonished}, {Surprised}. We are surprised at what is
unexpected. We are astonished at what is above or
beyond our comprehension. We are taken by surprise. We
are struck with astonishment. --C. J. Smith. See
{Amaze}.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Astonishing \As*ton"ish*ing\, a.
Very wonderful; of a nature to excite astonishment; as, an
astonishing event.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Amazing; surprising; wonderful; marvelous.
[1913 Webster] {As*ton"ish*ing*ly}, adv. --
{As*ton"ish*ing*ness}, n.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
astonishing
adj 1: surprising greatly; "she does an amazing amount of work";
"the dog was capable of astonishing tricks" [syn:
{amazing}, {astonishing}]
2: so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm; "such an
enormous response was astonishing"; "an astounding
achievement"; "the amount of money required was staggering";
"suffered a staggering defeat"; "the figure inside the boucle
dress was stupefying" [syn: {astonishing}, {astounding},
{staggering}, {stupefying}]
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