bushwhack

verb

bush·​whack ˈbu̇sh-ˌ(h)wak 

bushwhacked; bushwhacking; bushwhacks

1

transitive : to attack (someone) by surprise from a hidden place : ambush

… the American banditti robbed trains and bushwhacked stagecoaches and settlers' caravans with equal enthusiasm for fistic violence and gunplay.

—James Gray

Williams wears a pistol when he goes into the countryside and worries that someone might bushwhack him because he is outspoken.

—Monty Brower and Bill Shaw

2

intransitive

a

: to travel by foot through uncleared terrain

Other beaches have no access at all; you have to bushwhack to get to them, through terrain infested with rattlesnakes, poison oak, and other hazards.

—Anthony Brandt

No paths presented themselves and I bushwhacked through numerous fallen and dead trees.

—Rob Nicholson

… decided it was best to "bushwhack," or wander off the path to get closer to the barred owl and possibly catch a glimpse of it.

—Eric Koszalka

b

: to clear a path or advance through thick woods especially by chopping down bushes and low branches

… it would allow them to locate their prey without having to bushwhack through the jungle for days or weeks.

—Earth Island Journal

bushwhacker noun

Synonyms

• assault
• attack
• raid
• ambush
• storm
• strike

Examples of bushwhack in a Sentence

The group bushwhacked through the jungle.

They used the controversy as an opportunity to bushwhack their political opponents.

Recent Examples on the Web

Sometimes the brothers would have to bushwhack up the sides of peaks, and then scramble through boulder fields and up unmarked terrain to reach the summit. —Outside, 25 Sep. 2025

After about an hour of following bushwhacking guides and slipping over an elephant trail twisting through the undergrowth, trumpets and guttural grunts pierced through the silence. —Chris Schalkx, AFAR Media, 20 Aug. 2025

The trail requires a fair amount of bushwhacking, steep climbs, and snaking ambles through multi-hued canyons. —Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025

Deep in the night on August 4, 2018, a trio of timber cutters bushwhacked into a steep valley thick with brush, wearing headlamps and carrying a chainsaw, gas can, and a slew of felling tools. —Nick Davidson, Outside Online, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from bushwhacker

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bushwhack

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback