bushwhacker

American  

[boosh-hwak-er, -wak-er] / ˈbʊʃˌʰwæk ər, -ˌwæk ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that bushwhacks.

2. (in the American Civil War) a guerrilla, especially a Confederate.

3. any guerrilla or outlaw.

4. Australian Slang. an unsophisticated person; hick.

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bushwhacker British  

/ ˈbʊʃˌwækə /

noun

1. a person who travels around or lives in thinly populated woodlands

2. informal an unsophisticated person; boor

3. a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War

4. any guerrilla

5. a person who works in the bush, esp at timber felling

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Other Word Forms

• bushwhacking noun

Etymology

Origin of bushwhacker

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; bush ¹ + whacker ( def. )

Example Sentences

He was a familiar figure along the Appalachian Trail and other paths, a wiry 5-foot-7 bushwhacker wearing his trademark mesh angler’s vest and toting a snake sack and a pole called a snake hook.

From Washington Post

It is still dreaming of the Civil War and reliving memories of bushwhackers, moonshiners, Indian fights, big hunts, and other boisterous incidents of the frontier days.

From Salon

Pinpricks of red light appeared like beady mouse eyes in the woods, evidence of bushwhackers braving the poison ivy for a closer look.

From Washington Post

Soon, Fins became known for ice cream sandwich bushwhackers, Caribbean atmosphere and live bands.

From Washington Times

Ever since the earliest photographic technologies, bushwhackers have willfully deviated from marked trails, but never, it seems, have more renegades tweaked convention than in the past decade or two.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aggressor
• mugger