N. inexpectation, non-expectation, false expectation, miscalculation, surprise, sudden burst, thunderclap, blow, shock, start, bolt out of the blue, wonder, eye opener, unpleasant surprise, pleasant surprise

V. not expect, be taken by surprise, start, miscalculate, not bargain for, come upon, fall upon, be unexpected, come unawares, turn up, pop, drop from the clouds, come upon one, burst upon one, flash upon one, bounce upon one, steal upon one, creep upon one, come like a thunder clap, burst like a thunderclap, thunder bolt, take by surprise, catch by surprise, catch unawares, catch napping, yach, pounce upon, spring a mine upon, surprise, startle, take aback, electrify, stun, stagger, take away one's breath, throw off one's guard, astonish, dumbfound

Adj. nonexpectant, surprised, unwarned, unaware, off one's guard, inattentive 458, unexpected, unanticipated, unpredicted, unlooked for, unforeseen, unhoped for, dropped from the clouds, beyond expectation, contrary to expectation, against expectation, against all expectation, out of one's reckoning, unheard of, startling, surprising, sudden, unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable) 519

Adv. abruptly, unexpectedly, surprisingly, plump, pop, a l'improviste, unawares, without notice, without warning, without a "by your leave", like a thief in the night, like a thunderbolt, in an unguarded moment, suddenly

Phr. little did one think, little did one expect, nobody would ever suppose, nobody would ever think, nobody would ever expect, who would have thought? it beats the dutch|

Int. heydey, &c. (wonder) 870

N. danger, peril, insecurity, jeopardy, risk, hazard, venture, precariousness, slipperiness, instability, defenselessness &c

V. be in danger, be exposed to danger, run into danger, incur danger, encounter danger, run a risk, lay oneself open to, lean on a broken reed, trust to a broken reed, feel the ground sliding from under one, have to run for it, have the chances against one, have the odds against one, face long odds, be in deep trouble, be between a rock and a hard place, hang by a thread, totter, sleep on a volcano, stand on a volcano, sit on a barrel of gunpowder, live in a glass house, bring in danger, place in danger, put in danger, place in jeopardy, put in jeopardy, endanger, expose to danger, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, compromise, sail too near the wind, adventure, risk, hazard, venture, stake, set at hazard, run the gauntlet, engage in a forlorn hope, threaten danger, run one hard, lay a trap for

Adj. in danger, exposure, endangered, vulnerability, fraught with danger, vulnerable point, dangerous, heel of achilles, hazardous, forlorn hope, perilous, leap in the dark, parlous, road to ruin, periculous|, faciles descensus averni, unsafe, hairbreadth escape, unprotected &c. (safe, protect ), cause for alarm, insecure, source of danger, untrustworthy, rock ahead, built upon sand, breakers ahead, on a sandy basis, storm brewing, wildcat, clouds in the horizon, defenseless, clouds gathering, fenceless, warning, guardless, alarm, harborless, apprehension, unshielded, vulnerable, expugnable, exposed, open to, aux abois, at bay, on the wrong side of the wall, on a lee shore, on the rocks, at stake, in question, precarious, critical, ticklish, slippery, slippy, hanging by a thread, with a halter round one's neck, between the hammer and the anvil, between scylla and charybdis, between a rock and a hard place, between the devil and the deep blue sea, between two fires, on the edge of a precipice, on the brink of a precipice, on the verge of a precipice, on the edge of a volcano, in the lion's den, on slippery ground, under fire, not out of the wood, unwarned, unadmonished, unadvised, unprepared, off one's guard, tottering, unstable, unsteady, shaky, top-heavy, tumbledown, ramshackle, crumbling, waterlogged, helpless, guideless, in a bad way, reduced to the last extremity, at the last extremity, trembling in the balance, nodding to its fall, threatening, ominous, illomened, alarming, explosive, adventurous, (bold) 861

Phr. incidit in scyllam qui vult vitare charybdim, nam tua res agitur paries dum proximus ardet