ambush
[am-boo sh]
- an act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise: The highwaymen waited in ambush near the road.
- an act or instance of attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position.
- the concealed position itself: They fired from ambush.
- those who attack suddenly and unexpectedly from a concealed position.
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- to attack from ambush.
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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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ambush
Contemporary Examples
They were the machine gun bullets coming from the ambush when my company got hit.
In one ambush in late July, 11 Hezbollah fighters were killed, according to Lebanese security sources.
He was killed instantly by a blast in an ambush launched on our vehicles outside of a schoolhouse.
She would lure him to a Paris suburb where the gang waited in ambush.
Opponents call the technique “ambush elections” and say the rules do not leave enough time for management to make its case.
Historical Examples
Firing from ambush and moving from place to place, he would seem more than one man.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
No mountains are here, but this is a great country for ambush.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
Besides, they can rake us with bullets from ambush, while we're climbing up the ridge.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
We're only two, but we've got the advantage of the ambush, and that's a big one.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
Darkness, the ambush and the caution of sharpshooters were there.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
ambush
- the act of waiting in a concealed position in order to launch a surprise attack
- a surprise attack from such a position
- the concealed position from which such an attack is launched
- the person or persons waiting to launch such an attack
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- to lie in wait (for)
- (tr) to attack suddenly from a concealed position
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Word Origin
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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ambush
v.
c.1300, from Old French embuscher (13c., Modern French embûcher) "to lay an ambush," from en- "in" + busch "wood," apparently from Frankish *busk "bush, woods" (see bush (n.)). Related: Ambushed; ambushing.
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n.
late 15c., embushe, from the English verb or from Middle French embusche, from Old French embuscher (see ambush (v.)). Earlier was ambushment (late 14c.). Figurative use by 1590s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper