ambush

[ am-boosh ]

noun

1. an act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise:

   The highwaymen waited in ambush near the road.

2. an act or instance of attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position.
3. the concealed position itself:

   They fired from ambush.

4. those who attack suddenly and unexpectedly from a concealed position.

verb (used with object)

1. to attack from ambush.

ambush

/ ˈæmbʊʃ /

noun

1. the act of waiting in a concealed position in order to launch a surprise attack
2. a surprise attack from such a position
3. the concealed position from which such an attack is launched
4. the person or persons waiting to launch such an attack

verb

1. to lie in wait (for)
2. tr to attack suddenly from a concealed position

Derived Forms

• ˈambusher, noun

Other Words From

• ambush·er noun
• ambush·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambush¹

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English enbuss ( h ) en < Middle French embuschier to place men in ambush, literally, to set in the woods, equivalent to em- im- ¹ + busch- (< Vulgar Latin *busca wood, forest < Germanic *busk- heavy stick) + -ier infinitive suffix; (noun) earlier enbusshe < Middle French embusche, derivative of the v.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambush¹

C14: from Old French embuschier to position in ambush, from em- im- + -buschier, from busche piece of firewood, probably of Germanic origin; see bush ¹

Example Sentences

Skeletons of adults, teens and children excavated in the 1960s at an ancient cemetery in Sudan known as Jebel Sahaba display injuries incurred in repeated skirmishes, raids or ambushes, say paleoanthropologist Isabelle Crevecoeur and her colleagues.

From Science News

In a testament to Carol Ann Drazba’s care, Johnny Williams, whom she treated after an ambush left him severely injured, sent flowers to her mother every year until he passed away.

From Time

Right now, Kammerer says, it’s hard to know whether this reptile was an ambush or pursuit predator.

From Science News For Students

“Whether it was an ambush or pursuit predator is a very difficult thing to address, and perhaps unknowable,” given that animals at that time were quite different from modern ones.

From Science News

Google searches for “short squeeze” rose by more than 800 percent this past week, as Americans tried to decode an ambush by Reddit traders on Wall Street hedge fund managers who had bet against brick-and-mortar video game firm GameStop.

From Ozy

They were the machine gun bullets coming from the ambush when my company got hit.

From The Daily Beast

In one ambush in late July, 11 Hezbollah fighters were killed, according to Lebanese security sources.

From The Daily Beast

He was killed instantly by a blast in an ambush launched on our vehicles outside of a schoolhouse.

From The Daily Beast

She would lure him to a Paris suburb where the gang waited in ambush.

From The Daily Beast

Opponents call the technique “ambush elections” and say the rules do not leave enough time for management to make its case.

From The Daily Beast

Some time after Bruce went north, he proceeded to Douglasdale again78 and placed an ambush near his ancestral castle.

From Project Gutenberg

Douglas now broke ambush and cut off Webton from the castle, eventually slaying him and all his men.

From Project Gutenberg

He planted an ambush in the early morning, and let the hay lie till the peel men had gone out to cut their crop.

From Project Gutenberg

At Dantzig, with his own hand, he killed a Russian sergeant who had caught a French cavalry colonel in an ambush.

From Project Gutenberg

Its tactics are like those of the Indian who fights under cover or lies in ambush for his enemy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• assault
• surround
• trap
• waylay