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ALL OF A SUDDEN
I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Happening unexpectedly
Example:
suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side
Synonyms:
all of a sudden; of a sudden; suddenly
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
Without warning
Example:
all at once, he started shouting
Synonyms:
all at once; all of a sudden
Classified under:
Context examples:
"You are not engaged, I hope?" and Laurie looked very elder-brotherly and grave all of a sudden.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it; and then one horrid, long-drawn scream.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
He could not get any further, for he too turned bashful all of a sudden, and did not quite know what to say.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
When I was an A B master mariner I'd have come up alongside of him, hand over hand, and broached him to in a brace of old shakes, I would; but now— And then, all of a sudden, he stopped, and his jaw dropped as though he had remembered something.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
"Yes, sir," and Jo felt as calm and cool all of a sudden as if she had stepped into a refrigerator.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness: “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny mill.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
It seemed asleep, but all of a sudden if gave a little cry and trembled, and then lay very still.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and other noises—the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
We were laughing over it when all of a sudden his eye was on us, and he ordered Susie to bring up her slate.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Several young ladies, who had taken no notice of her before, were very affectionate all of a sudden.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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