From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtake/catch somebody by surprisetake/catch somebody by surpriseSURPRISEDto happen unexpectedly The question took her by surprise. → surprise
Examples from the Corpus
take/catch somebody by surprise• In consequence, untold numbers of sailors died when their destinations suddenly loomed out of the sea and took them by surprise.• Inspector Montgomery's sudden termination of the interview had taken her by surprise initially, but now she understood his strategy.• Welch and I had a rather heated exchange about the appropriateness of his editorial interference, which had caught me by surprise.• He caught me by surprise and I sounded foolish.• The hug takes him by surprise.• He rolled towards Lily, taking her by surprise.• The thought that had been waiting to be revealed, waiting to take him by surprise.• His deep voice took Romanov by surprise. 