bushwhacking

American  

[boosh-wak-ing] / ˈbʊʃˌwæk ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of making one's way or cutting a path through bush or forested wilderness.

2. the act or process of travelling through such terrain.

3. the act of fighting as a guerrilla in such terrain.

4. the action of a person or group that ambushes someone or defeats them in a way that takes them by surprise.

5. the act or process of pulling a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bushwhacking

After about 3½ hours scrambling over boulders, trudging up slopes covered in loose gravel and bushwhacking through dense brush, they reached a flat spot at 8,400 feet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2023

It’s a good alternative for seasoned backpackers who didn’t nab a Wonderland permit, or those who want to avoid crowds on a less-traveled volcano, even if it means a little bushwhacking and route-finding.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

Inaccessible by trails, Hyperion, a coast redwood, can be reached only by bushwhacking through heavy vegetation and crossing a river.

From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

By the end of an exhausting day that included bushwhacking through heavy brush, the fungi hunters had filled seven small plastic sacks with dirt from different locations.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 6, 2022

I walked across the dorm circle, and then straight through the soccer field, bushwhacking through the woods, until I ended up on the banks of Culver Creek just down from the bridge.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green