ambush

1 of 2

verb

am·​bush ˈam-ˌbu̇sh 

ambushed; ambushing; ambushes

transitive verb

1

: to attack by surprise from a hidden place : waylay

Our troops ambushed the enemy units.

… his caravan that season had been ambushed and shot at twice on the way down …

—Rudyard Kipling

2

: to station in ambush (see ambush entry 2 sense 2)

Mr and Mrs Fyne ambushed at their window—a most incredible occupation for people of their kind—saw with renewed anxiety a cab come to the door.

—Joseph Conrad

intransitive verb

: to lie in wait : lurk

ambusher noun

ambushment

ˈam-ˌbu̇sh-mənt 

noun

ambush

2 of 2

noun

plural ambushes

1

: a trap in which one or more concealed attackers lie in wait to attack by surprise

soldiers caught in an ambush

Suddenly a shout comes down the line: "Contact front!" It's an ambush, with gunmen on both sides of the road.

—Lev Grossman

… it is plain he must have been as stupid with weariness as myself, and looked as little where we were going, or we should not have walked into an ambush like blind men.

—Robert Louis Stevenson

2

: the concealed position from which a surprise attack is made

a group of soldiers lying in ambush

… tanks alone are vulnerable to opposing infantry with antitank weapons, particularly at night when the infantry can more easily wait in ambush or approach unseen.

—Neil Sheehan

also : an individual or group concealed for a surprise attack

All was then dead silence; for, loquacious as he was on other occasions, Captain Dalgetty knew well the necessity of an ambush keeping itself under covert.

—Robert Burns

3

: the act of approaching or confronting someone with something unexpected

—often used before another noun

ambush journalism

… did not return calls or e-mails and was hostile when a television crew conducted an ambush interview several years ago.

—Neely Tucker

Synonyms

Verb

• ambuscade
• surprise
• surprize
• waylay

Noun

• ambuscade
• ambushment
• surprise
• surprize
• trap

Examples of ambush in a Sentence

Verb

We have reports of enemy soldiers ambushing civilians on this road.

the king's enemies planned to ambush the royal coach on the way to Paris and capture the king

Noun

Many soldiers were killed in the ambush.

The soldiers were lying in ambush, waiting for the enemy to approach.

a snake waiting in ambush for its next meal

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, in February, 2022, Perun joined a reconnaissance unit and assembled a small team that ambushed and sabotaged Russian forces behind the lines. —Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024

For more than 12 hours, the twins’ cries were used as bait by militants to ambush incoming Israeli rescue teams. —William Booth, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024

Three corrections officers were ambushed and shot early Wednesday while taking an inmate back to prison from a medical center in Boise, Idaho, officials said. —S. Dev, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2024

A week after the attack, in early June 2020, Carrillo ambushed Santa Cruz County deputies and California Highway Patrol officers near his Ben Lomond home, killing Sgt. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024

Laura Loomer, an internet activist close to Mr. Trump who has lobbed harsh personal attacks at Ms. Haley on social media, has also tried to ambush her at campaign events, shouting questions at her staff and surrogates and filming their responses. —Ken Bensinger, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2024

But they were quickly ambushed by a man later identified by Umphenour, who allegedly opened fire at them in the ambulance bay. —Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024

The three Idaho corrections officers escorting him were ambushed by a gunman who shot two of them before the inmate and his accomplice fled in a getaway car, police said. —Dalia Faheid, CNN, 22 Mar. 2024

First, the good stuff: These blasters have a range of 300 feet, so tweens and teens will have tons of room to play, spread out, and ambush their friends during a round of laser tag. —Maya Polton, Parents, 7 Mar. 2024

Noun

Combs' father, Melvin Earl Combs, died in an ambush shooting when the future mogul was 3 years old. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 9 Apr. 2024

How to Catch Crappie in Windy Conditions Wave action creates cloudy water perfect for ambushes, and crappie emerge from channels to prey on bait feeding on windblown plankton. —Don Wirth, Field & Stream, 4 Apr. 2024

This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 26 Mar. 2024

Since four American soldiers in Van Saun’s company were killed during the Tongo Tongo ambush in October 2017, prompting congressional and Defense Department investigations, military operations have been constrained. —Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024

The manhunt began early Wednesday, following what authorities described as a planned ambush. —Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024

The whales typically hunt in packs and ambush larger prey like seals, other whales, and sea lions. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024

Mountain lions make up for their limited stamina by hunting from ambush; waiting for deer to move closer, or inching close to make a short, quick burst of speed to put them in killing range. —Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 28 Feb. 2024

Officials and analysts said the ambush on towns, homes and a music festival was meticulously planned to kill as many civilians as possible. —Naomi Schanen, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English enbuschen "to place in hiding in order to attack by surprise, to hide (oneself) in order to attack by surprise," borrowed from Anglo-French embuscher "to place (in the woods) in order to attack by surprise, conceal, lie in wait to attack by surprise" (also continental Old French [Normandy & Picardy] embuschier, Picard dialect embusquier), from em- em- + -buscher, verbal derivative of Picard bus, busc "forest, grove," going back to Old Low Franconian *būska-, going back to Germanic, ablaut variant of *buska- "bush, thicket" — more at bush entry 1

Note: Forms with initial am- instead of em-, which first appear in the noun in the sixteenth century and the verb in the seventeenth century, are of uncertain origin. Given the earlier use in nouns, their appearance may be a by-product of shift of stress to the initial syllable. The suggestion in the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, that the change is due to association with ambage, does not seem very likely. — The meaning "forest, grove" attached to *būska-, whence the Picard masculine noun bus, busc, receded early before a Gallo-Romance derivative *buska, a re-formation of the Germanic etymon as a neuter collective plural noun, taken as feminine, whence Old French busche "piece of firewood," French bûche. This new formation, also with results in Occitan and Upper Italian dialects, represents a sense shift from "bush, thicket" to "wood collected for a fire" to "split piece of wood, splinter." For a detailed discussion of Romance and Germanic outcomes of būska- see Johannes Hubschmied, "Romanisch-germanische Wortprobleme I. Zur Geschichte von bois, bûche (mit Berücksichtigung der Ortsnamen)," Vox Romanica, Band 29 (1970), pp. 114-16. Within the framework of Germanic and Indo-European ablaut patterns as now understood, a lengthened grade *būska- is questionable, and one might have to appeal to variation of expressive vocabulary within Germanic. Hubschmid, however, works within J. Pokorny's framework, where an Indo-European root with a very general meaning and form, *beu-, *b^heu-, *b^heuə- "to swell," is subject to an indefinite number of ablaut variants and root extensions.

Noun

earlier enbusshe, borrowed from Middle French embusche, embusque, noun derivative of embuschier "to place (in the woods) in order to attack by surprise" — more at ambush entry 1

Note: For the initial am- in place of em- see note at ambush entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing ambush

• in ambush

Kids Definition

ambush

1 of 2 verb

am·​bush ˈam-ˌbu̇sh 

: to attack from an ambush

ambush

2 of 2 noun

: a trap in which hidden persons wait to attack by surprise