ambush

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“
A Lebanese TV station said the ambush was a direct result of the crackdown, suggesting the attack was not politically motivated.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun The act of lying in wait to attack by surprise.
  2. noun A sudden attack made from a concealed position.
  3. noun Those hiding in order to attack by surprise.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

reconnaissance ·  assassination ·  skirmish ·  raid ·  massacre ·  assault ·  treachery ·  maneuver ·  concealment ·  warfare ·  siege ·  trap

Used in the same contextWord Family

ambush:   ambushed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English embush, from Old French embusche, from embuschier, to ambush, from Frankish *boscu, bush, woods.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also embush, from Middle English embusshen, enbusshen, enbuschen, enbussen (also abuschen, abussen, and by apheresis busse, early modern English bush), from Old French enbuscher, embuscher, embuissier, later embûcher (modern F. embusquer, after Spanish or Italian) = Spanish Portuguese emboscar = Italian imboscare, from Middle Latin emboscare, properly imboscare, set in ambush, from Latin in, in, + Middle Latin boscus, wood, bush: see bush, and cf. ambuscade.
  2. from late Middle English ambushe, enbusshe, from Old French embusche, embosche, French embûche; from the verb.
 

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/ˈæmbəʃ/
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