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Ambush

[am-boosh]

Example Sentences Origin

noun Also, am·bush·ment.

an act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise: The highwaymen waited in ambush near the road.

an act or instance of attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position.

the concealed position itself: They fired from ambush.

those who attack suddenly and unexpectedly from a concealed position.

verb (used with object)

to attack from ambush.

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Ambush is one of our favorite verbs.

So is lollygag. Does it mean:

to flee; abscond:

to spend time idly; loaf.

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Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English enbuss(h)en < Middle French embuschier to place men in ambush, literally, to set in the woods, equivalent to em- im-¹ + busch- (< Vulgar Latin *busca wood, forest < Germanic *busk- heavy stick) + -ier infinitive suffix; (noun) earlier enbusshe < Middle French embusche, derivative of the v.

Related forms

am·bush·er, noun

am·bush·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Ambush

Example Sentences

Two policemen and two soldiers were shot dead in an ambush.

Lions ambush men outside a village police station.

For instance, in creating new nesting places or new spots for predator ambush.

EXPAND

Two policemen and two soldiers were shot dead in an ambush.

Lions ambush men outside a village police station.

For instance, in creating new nesting places or new spots for predator ambush.

The idea that the thylacine was an ambush predator should spur us to reconsider the reasons for the predator's disappearance.

Gangs ambush military vehicles and attack government offices and even schools.

They use their impressive leap and sticky toes to climb up into the canopy at night to ambush their prey.

The same applies to any ambush predator same size or smaller than its prey.

So, by not doing it, it will be harder for someone to ambush me.

At which point, an ambush and a bullet seem plausible.

Instead, he may have been a warrior or the victim of an ambush who fought hard to save his life.

Mosasaurs, however, were slightly smaller and hunted by ambush.

Within days, the euro countries cantered into a new ambush.

The ancient predator would ambush prey many times its own size and weight and rapidly dispatch the victim with devastating jaws.

But once a crow begins to dig, other crows form a circle around the digger, waiting in ambush.

The ability to kill from a distance and the use of ambush tactics significantly affected border interactions.

Transients have a taste for the gray whale calves, which they ambush.

O'Shea thinks the curve may have been a hunting blind, where hunters waited to ambush animals as they approached.

The occasion was grim: a funeral for the comrades who'd been killed in the government ambush three weeks earlier.

Hunter had become hunted and the bridge held the taut expectation of ambush.

The single deadliest ambush of the insurgency was pulled off by guerrillas dressed as police officers.

The word ambush comes to mind under these conditions.

See wildlife photographers set a camera ambush in the hopes of.

Eddy was charged with the ambush shooting of artist-dude.

Scientists say it uses traps reinforced with fungus to ambush large insects.

Both groups fought in wars without clearly delineated front lines, where ambush and insurgency are a constant threat.

One big squeeze and you can ambush your office mates with a non-stop onslaught of pink foam darts.

The transients ambush them-they have a taste for the gray whale calves' high-energy blubber and protein-rich tongues.

Recon tells me that the enemy is setting up an ambush north of our position.

Pliosaurs are thought to have been ambush predators, using their giant flippers to launch ferocious attacks.

The kingfisher is an ambush hunter, perching over a river until a small fish flicks into range.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

ambush (ˈæmbʊʃ)

—n
1.	the act of waiting in a concealed position in order to launch a surprise attack
2.	a surprise attack from such a position
3.	the concealed position from which such an attack is launched
4.	the person or persons waiting to launch such an attack

—vb
5.	to lie in wait (for)
6.	(tr) to attack suddenly from a concealed position

[C14: from Old French embuschier to position in ambush, from em-im- + -buschier, from busche piece of firewood, probably of Germanic origin; see bush¹]

ambusher

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ambush

c.1300, from O.Fr. embuscher (13c., Mod.Fr. embûcher) "to lay an ambush," from en- "in" + busch "wood," apparently from Frank. *busk "bush, woods" (see bush).

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

AMBUSH definition

language
A language for linear programming problems in a materials processing and transportation network.
["AMBUSH - An Advanced Model Builder for Linear Programming", T.R. White et al, National Petroleum Refiners Assoc Comp Conf (Nov 1971)].
(1995-06-19)

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Ambush definition

Joshua at the capture of Ai lay in ambush, and so deceived the inhabitants that he gained an easy victory (Josh. 8:4-26). Shechem was taken in this manner (Judg. 9:30-45. Comp. Jer. 51:12).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Matching Quote

"War is not a life: it is a situation,
One which may neither be ignored nor accepted,
A problem to be met with ambush and stratagem,
Enveloped or scattered."

-T.S. Eliot

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