ambush
nounEtymology
From Middle English enbuschen, from Old French enbuscier, anbuchier (verb) (whence Middle French embusche (noun)), from Old French en- + Vulgar Latin boscus (“wood”) (whence also bouquet), from Frankish *busk (“bush”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush, heavy stick”). Compare ambuscade. The change to am- from earlier forms in en- is unexplained. More at bush.
Definitions
The act of concealing oneself and lying in wait to attack or kill by surprise.
An attack launched from a concealed position.
- Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege / Or ambush from the deep.
The concealed position or state from which a surprise attack is launched.
- the Georgean hills, Whoſe tops are couered with Tartarian theeues, That lie in ambuſh, waiting for a pray:
- Therefore, why not wait in ambush for Conrad behind the door, and when he entered bring down a chair, or one of the decrepit pictures, smartly on to his head.
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The troops posted in a concealed place, for attacking by surprise
The troops posted in a concealed place, for attacking by surprise; those who lie in wait.
- And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ranne as soone as he had stretched out his hand: and they entred into the city, and tooke it, and hasted, and set the citie on fire.
To station in ambush with a view to surprise an enemy.
- By ambuſh’d men, behind their Temple laid, / VVe have the King of Mexico betray’d.
To attack by ambush
To attack by ambush; to waylay.
- The contrast with the start was profound. In the opening 40 minutes Löw’s team had been ambushed here, the world champions run into a state of breathless trauma by a thrillingly vibrant Mexico attack.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for ambush. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA