ambushed

verb

past tense of ambush
as in attacked
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise the king's enemies planned to ambush the royal coach on the way to Paris and capture the king

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ambushed Three planeloads of soldiers from El Salvador landed in Haiti on Friday, days after the Central American nation’s president angrily threatened Haitian gangs that ambushed a group of Salvadoran soldiers over the past weekend who remain missing. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026 Task Force were returning to their camp Sunday in a white all-terrain Toyota when they were ambushed by heavily armed criminals, according to the Salvadoran military. — Widlore Mérancourt, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026 In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks in Karak, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, including seven officers, and wounding dozens. — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026 The missing service members, described as non-combatant aviation technicians that were supporting the GSF mission, were ambushed by gangs on October 18, Salvadoran officials have said. — Michael Rios, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026 Shot in the Canary Islands, Doom Scroll watches as a family’s Passover Seder is ambushed by intruders hungry for revenge, viral fame and power. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026 The White Sox ambushed Houston ace Hunter Brown in a four-run first inning. — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 However, the night took a turn when Kanye West ambushed Swift’s acceptance speech, creating one of the most infamous moments in the awards show’s history — and subsequently sparking a years-long feud with Swift. — Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2026 Investigators later determined the shooting happened in the area of Pontiac Lake Road and Summit Drive, where the four men were ambushed by several other men armed with assault rifles. — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ambushed
  1. attacked
  2. assaulted
  3. waylaid
  4. surprised
  5. captured
Verb
  • Many questions Bukele has billed the rapid buildup as a search-and-rescue operation to find the missing Salvadorans, who were attacked east of Port-au-Prince while returning to camp after a trip to the supermarket.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Kaye spent around $100,000 on dozens of ads in the Hollywood trades, Variety among them, some of which attacked Norton and the studio.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • Investigators contend that Navarro assaulted Garcia with a baseball bat.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
  • In interviews, six women told the Herald they were raped or assaulted by one or more of the brothers between 2002 and 2004.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of assaulted
Verb
  • With all that swirling around them, the presidential motorcade meant to bring Kate, Hal, Grace, and Todd back to Air Force One gets waylaid by protesters blocking the entrance to Heathrow airport.
    — Adam B. Vary, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In the film Rap World (which Bensinger also edited), Bensinger, O’Malley, and Rahill play suburban deadbeats eager to make an album, each man waylaid by his own hubris and distractions.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of waylaid
Verb
  • And you’d be surprised how people who think very differently can still find a point of commonality and can build trust.
    — Mark Guiducci, Vanity Fair, 30 Oct. 2026
  • So if the trade deadline comes and goes with Sieler still in South Florida, don’t be surprised.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of surprised
Verb
  • Since no party has ever captured a parliamentary majority on its own, party leaders must agree to come together in a governing coalition.
    — Giovanna Dell'Orto, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Along the way, the former leaders of the AI trade, captured in the iShares AI Innovation ETF, have collapsed by 35 percentage points relative to the equal-weight S&P 500, then regained half the loss, then gave up most of that bounce.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of captured

Browse Nearby Words

ambush
ambushed
ambusher
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Cite this Entry

“Ambushed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ambushed. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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