double take

See also: doubletake and double-take

English

Alternative forms

• double-take, doubletake

Etymology

From take (“a visible (facial) response to something”) as used in acting, especially in comedy.

Noun

double take (plural double takes)

1. An abrupt movement, used, for example, as a comical reaction to a surprising sight, in which someone casually sees something, briefly stops looking at it, realizes what it is, and snaps attention back to it with an expression of surprise or disbelief.

   Smith passes the car and does a double take as he realizes it is on fire.

   I swear I did a double-take when I spotted that $100 bill lying in the gutter!

   • 1949, Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Cheaper by the Dozen:

     Once a neighbor complained that a Gilbreth had called the neighbor's boy a son of an unprintable word.“What are the facts of the matter?” Dad asked blandly. And then walked away while the neighbor registered a double take.

Derived terms

• double taker

Translations

reaction to surprising sight

• Bulgarian: закъсняла реакция f (zakǎsnjala reakcija)
• Esperanto: reatento, subita reatento
• German: (verbal: to do a double take) zweimal hinsehen müssen (literally “to have to look twice”)
• Italian: scoppio ritardato m
• Japanese: 二度見 (にどみ, nidomi)
• Korean: 두번보고 (dubeonbogo)
• Russian: заме́дленная реа́кция f (zamédlennaja reákcija), повто́рный взгляд m (povtórnyj vzgljad), внима́тельный осмо́тр m (vnimátelʹnyj osmótr)

Further reading

• “double take”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.