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
-
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:
Its fantastical elements, from the ambush on Troy led by Matt Damon’s Odysseus to a giant cyclops that gobbles his men in a cave, were created primarily with physical effects for a more visceral impact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Researchers believe it was an ambush predator that spent much of its time concealed in the water, waiting for animals to approach for a drink.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 13, 2026
Czesław is an ethnic Pole in the Red Army who escaped a ruthless German ambush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
ADEN, Yemen — The ambush spot was good: Single-lane street, just enough space to overtake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
On ambush, curled in the dark, you fight for control.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
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
Yet so much can derail them: fractured supply chains, staff blowups, quirks of locations and traffic, social media ambushes, even the unexpected, like COVID.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
And as climate change supercharges more storms, fires, earthquakes, and other inevitable tragedies throughout this year and beyond, prepare to have to deal with these ambushes as well.
From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2025
Aid operations in the capital have also been hampered by ambushes along key access routes.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2024
Tyler ambushes me in between third and fourth period.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
It was a safe haven from the Germans, who feared being ambushed by the Resistance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Then Rushing again ambushed the first pitch — a knuckle curve on the inside edge — and drove it off the right-field wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
In one foray, led by Miller, the small party of raiders was ambushed by 80 Spanish troops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The DHS statement went on to say, "fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots".
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
We’d been so busy talking, we’d allowed ourselves to be ambushed.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
The design team, responding to the work’s fluidity, enjoys keeping us in the dark before ambushing us with unasked-for surprises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 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
Signs of desperate hunger are growing as people resort to consuming animal feed or ambushing aid trucks.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2024
On another occasion the elder Mr. Biden participated in a family intervention, ambushing Hunter to push him into treatment.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
The young bounced around the adults, ambushing one another, rolling in mock battle, and shrieking for protection when an older animal lost patience and bared its teeth.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
