ambuscade
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ambuscade
1575–85; < Middle French embuscade, alteration (under influence of Old French embuschier; see 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
Explanation
An ambuscade is a surprise attack. There's nothing funnier than watching your cat lie in wait behind the couch until your dog wanders over, only to be startled by the cat's ambuscade. While ambuscade is a bit old-fashioned, it's a perfectly good way to say ambush. Soldiers in battle conduct strategic ambuscades, and you may also enjoy using an ambuscade against your brother now and then, leaping out from behind a door to make him jump. It can also be used as a verb: "The dog is surprised every single time the cat ambuscades him."
Vocabulary lists containing ambuscade
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:
The general belief was that the King was a chance victim of the ambuscade which was intended for the Orchanie-Sofia autobus, occupants of which were known to be carrying large sums of money.
From Time Magazine Archive
Only about 700 Legionnaires managed to escape the ambuscade.
From Time Magazine Archive
I have experienced and feel a profound sadness for the Marines who perished in the last ambuscade of the Sandinistas.
From Time Magazine Archive
The ambuscade capped a notably disgruntling week for Labor.
From Time Magazine Archive
About noon the army reached a post named Torna Cavallos, so called probably from the roughness of the road, and at this spot the guide of the canoes cried out that he saw an ambuscade.
From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume II (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Thornbury, Walter
She had been ambuscaded in the street to-day by demons not of faery, but of fact, that had leaped out at her from nowhere.
From The Cup of Fury A Novel of Cities and Shipyards by Raleigh, Henry
Denvil and his fifteen Pathans had been ambuscaded and outnumbered; and in the cramped space a sharp hand-to-hand encounter was in progress.
From Captain Desmond, V.C. by Diver, Maud
Then she knew the feeling of the man who finds himself ambuscaded.
From The Beach of Dreams by Stacpoole, H. De Vere (Henry De Vere)
Kabba Rega had no doubt ordered the various routes towards Rionga's province to be ambuscaded.
From Ismailia by Baker, Samuel White, Sir
But since they rode straight for the hills, he feared that if he followed he himself would be ambuscaded.
From The Treasure of the Tigris A Tale of Mesopotamia by Ferryman, A. F. Mockler
Colonel Butler hearing the firing on his right and rear imagined he was discovered, and that instead of ambuscading the rebels, he was himself to be surprised by this unexpected attack in the rear.
From The Journal of Lieut. John L. Hardenbergh of the Second New York Continental Regiment from May 1 to October 3, 1779, in General Sullivan's Campaign Against the Western Indians With an Introduction, Copious Historical Notes, and Maps of the Battle-field of Newtown and Groveland Ambuscade by Hardenbergh, John Leonard
I again succeeded in ambuscading them, which caused them to give up the pursuit for the night.
From The Battle of Atlanta and Other Campaigns, Addresses, Etc. by Dodge, Grenville Mellen
Re-enforcements came from Holland, and under Calabar's guidance the Dutch learned the value of ambuscading and made sudden expeditions which took the important settlements by surprise.
From The South American Republics Part I of II by Dawson, Thomas C.
The thick growth of grass and vines made ambuscading a favorite pastime with the Spaniards.
From History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest by Johnson, Edward A. (Edward Austin)
Before the assemblage could realize this new invasion, a nearer clatter of hoofs was heard along the high road, and one of the ambuscading party dashed up from the fringe of woods below.
From The Bell-Ringer of Angel's by Harte, Bret
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.
