ambush
Americannoun
-
ambushes
plural
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an act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise.
The highwaymen waited in ambush near the road.
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an act or instance of attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position.
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the concealed position itself.
They fired from ambush.
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those who attack suddenly and unexpectedly from a concealed position.
verb (used with object)
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ambushes,
present (3rd person singular)
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ambushed,
past participle, past
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ambushing
present participle
noun
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the act of waiting in a concealed position in order to launch a surprise attack
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a surprise attack from such a position
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the concealed position from which such an attack is launched
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the person or persons waiting to launch such an attack
verb
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to lie in wait (for)
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(tr) to attack suddenly from a concealed position
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ambushsimple
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ambushessimple
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have ambushedperfect
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has ambushedperfect
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am ambushingprogressive
-
are ambushingprogressive
-
is ambushingprogressive
-
have been ambushingperfect progressive
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has been ambushingperfect progressive
Past
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ambushedsimple
-
had ambushedperfect
-
was ambushingprogressive
-
were ambushingprogressive
-
had been ambushingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ambush
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.
Explanation
An ambush is a sneak attack. To ambush your enemy, hide and wait for him to come near and then pounce on him. In war or in backyards, an ambush is a great way to surprise someone. Ambush comes from a Latin word meaning “to place in a wood,” and hiding in the woods behind a tree is a classic starting point for an ambush. The actual attack is called an ambush, but ambush is also a verb, so you can ambush your mom by dropping water balloons on her head from a tree. Please don’t tell her where you got that idea.
Vocabulary lists containing ambush
Animal Farm
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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"In the Spotlight," Vocabulary from the informational text
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mr. Sullivan set up what some top Israeli defense officials saw as an ambush by bringing nearly the entire top U.S. team on the line to weigh in against a strike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
But since the rings select their bearers by asking whether they’re afraid during an ambush designed to create dread, the test favors those for whom life never presents anything to fear.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
It would be easy to conclude ambush marketing is simply more effective than sponsorship.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Growing to around 1 meter in length, the fish was likely an ambush predator that hunted smaller animals in freshwater systems.
From Science Daily ● May 25, 2026
These warriors were the main body of fighters; they would wait in ambush.
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
He had survived bandito ambushes and cutthroat plots, shipwrecks and crash-landings and high-sea duels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The filmmakers take their time revealing what long-ago crimes have so incensed Okuzaki as he more or less ambushes old comrades and superiors in their homes, confronting them with his accusations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
AFP spoke to his former business partner, ex-major Omar Rodriguez, who said that after a few desert ambushes last year, Quijano "paused" the operation.
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
The airline sets cheap rates but ambushes customers with pesky little fees for every single facet of the flying experience, a nickel-and-diming scheme that bends not even for that glass of water.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024
It meant hearing his loud complaints about her mother’s culinary ambushes: chicken bloody at the bone, undercooked vegetables, unpeeled fruit served with room-temperature cream cheese.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Think of it as a tax “prenup” with Uncle Sam that you settle up on your terms so the surviving spouse isn’t ambushed by higher rates down the road.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Two batters later, Hernández ambushed a first-pitch slider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
But he said disabled court users shouldn't be "ambushed by inaccessibility" and "have to undergo a resilience test" in going to court.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Braddock’s column was ambushed by French and Native American forces at the Battle of the Monongahela.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
He was not set upon by unreasonable hordes or ambushed by sneaky types.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
That’s still better than ambushing workers all at once with mass layoffs, some executives say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
We’ve all seen the appalling videos of masked agents ambushing and abducting these migrants in the halls of New York’s immigration court as they’re leaving a hearing.
From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2026
Then Betts came to the plate and continued his recent — and long-awaited — turnaround offensively, ambushing a first-pitch slider for his first home run since July 5.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2025
After ambushing Guevara's guerrilla group Gen Prado was made a national hero for having defended the Bolivian military regime.
From BBC ● May 7, 2023
He pulled pranks like putting ketchup on people’s faces while they slept, or ambushing them with water balloons when they’d just woken up.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
