bushwhack

[boo sh-hwak, -wak]

verb (used without object)

to make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc.

to travel through woods.

to pull a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore.

to fight as a bushwhacker or guerrilla in the bush.

verb (used with object)

to fight as a bushwhacker; ambush.

to defeat, especially by surprise or in an underhanded way: They bushwhacked our high school team when they used college players.

RELATED WORDS

surprise, assault, attack, waylay

Origin of bushwhack

1830–40, Americanism; back formation from bushwhacker

bushwhacker

[boo sh-hwak-er, -wak-er]

noun

a person or thing that bushwhacks.

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

any guerrilla or outlaw.

Australian Slang. an unsophisticated person; hick.

Origin of bushwhacker

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; bush¹ + whacker

Related formsbush·whack·ing, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bushwhacking

Historical Examples of bushwhacking

Calling the citizens together, I said to them that this bushwhacking must cease.
The Citizen-Soldier
John Beatty
A bushwhacking war was waged by the outlaws for more than three years.
Thirty Years on the Frontier
Robert McReynolds
Momentarily, he slowed his pace, thinking he was ripe for a bushwhacking job.
First on the Moon
Jeff Sutton
He asked Lou and Becky and all the servants if he hadn't been bushwhacking.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves
Work Projects Administration
But here I was disarmed, and after an hour's march seated among them bushwhacking in an old cabin on a hillside.
Duffels
Edward Eggleston

British Dictionary definitions for bushwhacking

bushwhack

verb

(tr) US, Canadian and Australian to ambush

(intr) US, Canadian and Australian to cut or beat one's way through thick woods

(intr) US, Canadian and Australian to range or move around in woods or the bush

(intr) US and Canadian to fight as a guerrilla in wild or uncivilized regions

(intr) NZ to work in the bush, esp at timber felling

bushwhacker

noun

US, Canadian and Australian a person who travels around or lives in thinly populated woodlands

Australian informal an unsophisticated person; boor

a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War

US any guerrilla

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bushwhacking

bushwhacker

also bush-whacker, 1809, American English, literally "one who beats the bushes" (to make his way through), perhaps modeled on Dutch bosch-wachter "forest keeper;" see bush (n.) + whack (v.). In American Civil War, "irregular who took to the woods" (1862), variously regarded as patriot guerillas or as freebooters. Hence bushwhack (v.), 1837; bushwhacking (1826).