ambuscade

[ am-buh-skeyd, am-buh-skeyd ]

noun

1. an ambush.

verb (used without object)

, am·bus·cad·ed, am·bus·cad·ing.

1. to lie in ambush.

verb (used with object)

, am·bus·cad·ed, am·bus·cad·ing.

1. to attack from a concealed position; ambush.

ambuscade

/ ˌæmbəˈskeɪd /

noun

1. an ambush

verb

1. to ambush or lie in ambush

Other Words From

• ambus·cader noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambuscade¹

1575–85; < Middle French embuscade, alteration (under influence of Old French embuschier; ambush ) of Middle French emboscade < Old Italian imboscata, feminine past participle of imboscare, verbal derivative with in- in- ² of bosco wood, forest < Germanic *bosk- bush ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambuscade¹

C16: from French embuscade, from Old Italian imboscata, probably of Germanic origin; compare ambush

Example Sentences

“Lake of Urine” offers instead strange harbingers, offbeat mental exfoliations, subterranean impulses, verbal ambuscades and warty, warty manifestations of joy, wit and lust.

From New York Times

Addressing the New People’s Army guerrillas, Duterte said, “Let us end these decades of ambuscades and skirmishes. We are going nowhere and it is getting bloodier by the day.”

From Washington Post

The ambuscade shall be laid in the very same place where the infamous one concealed you in order to expose me to your gaze.

From Project Gutenberg

The fifty savages he had with him were placed in ambuscade in the woods, after their own manner; that is to say, lying as close as rabbits.

From Project Gutenberg

On the other hand, Major Van Horne should have heeded the information he received, that the enemy were in advance, in position, and not allowed his little army to rush into an ambuscade.

From Project Gutenberg