catch (one) off guard

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catch (one) off guard

To engage, take advantage of, or seize upon one when one is not especially careful, vigilant, or prepared for danger or surprises. He's got a lot of tricky moves, so make sure he doesn't catch you off guard! The soldiers moved in quickly, hoping to catch the enemy troops off guard. I think I caught him off guard when I told him I was resigning.
See also: catch, guard, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

catch someone off guard

 and catch one off (one's) guard
Fig. to catch a person at a time of carelessness. Tom caught Ann off guard and frightened her. She caught me off my guard, and my hesitation told her I was lying.
See also: catch, guard, off

catch one off

(one's) guard Go to catch someone off guard.
See also: catch, off, one
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

catch off guard

see under off guard.
See also: catch, guard, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

catch someone off guard

or

take someone off guard

COMMON If something catches you off guard or takes you off guard, it happens unexpectedly and you are not prepared to respond to it. Note: Your guard is the position that you get in when you are ready to defend yourself in sports such as boxing or fencing. I didn't know how to answer him. The question caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting him to pass the ball to me and it took me off guard.
See also: catch, guard, off, someone
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

catch somebody off (their) ˈguard

happen when somebody is not prepared: The question caught him off his guard and he couldn’t answer. ♢ Businesses were caught off guard by the sudden rise in interest rates.
See also: catch, guard, off, somebody
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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"However prudent we are in the performance of our mandate, still there are circumstances that catch us off-guard. Please be informed that we do not distribute our goods with politi-cians," she told the officers.
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For a work that, at first, seems so inoffensive, the threads unravelled as Gaps progresses are the very things that catch us off-guard. As the work shrouds its broader commentary, the effect is twofold: it puts into question not only the prejudices of a racist Australian population but also the expectations of the viewers encountering this work.
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I don't think anyone will catch us off-guard again like that."
Falcons' guard is back in place; Newcastle Falcons begin a month of Championship dead rubbers tonight at nearest challengers Nottingham, Dean Richards telling Mark Smith they have learnt the lessons from their recent close shave
In his view the speed and scale of demographic change very often can catch us off-guard, and therefore it was important that the countries be prepared for the onset of population aging and put in place appropriate policies and measures.
Number of older persons growing faster
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