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 The vote took place almost three months to the day after four police officers in their squad cars wrongfully ambushed my wife and me after using Flock cameras to track us for days. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 4 Nov. 2026 The men were returning to camp from a visit to a supermarket when they were ambushed by armed gang members east of Port-au-Prince. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2026 The alleged assault on restaurant employees Investigators said Gonzalez ambushed the employee, repeatedly punching him in the face with closed fists, knocking him to the ground, and continuing to strike him. — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026 The gunman ambushed Thompson, a Minnesota father of two, firing several times before fleeing and setting off an interstate manhunt. — Shayna Jacobs, NBC news, 31 Oct. 2026 Al-Shabab said its fighters ambushed a convoy advancing into territory under its control. — ABC News, 28 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ambushed
  1. attacked
  2. assaulted
  3. waylaid
  4. surprised
  5. captured
Verb
  • Once in sight of land at last, the ship is attacked (by the French, as this is during the French and Indian War), with consequences falling hardest on the Clems.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Second, during a July test, OpenAI agents attacked Hugging Face systems in a move unrelated to its task.
    — Stephen Pitt-Walker, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • An anti-corruption commission spokesperson told state media Wednesday that officers had gone to the lodge to seize a Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz when one of the officials was assaulted.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • During the altercation, one of the suspects pulled out a weapon, and two of the victims were violently assaulted, police said.
    — Senior Editor, CBS News, 4 Nov. 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
  • The companies that understand their customers best in 2030 will be the ones most willing to be surprised by them.
    — Kate O'Keeffe, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
  • But Soto, 48, appeared to prevail this week, a feat that likely surprised Republican leaders and some political analysts.
    — Annie Martin, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of surprised
Verb
  • His voice, captured on an iPhone microphone, is strikingly deep, a rumble beneath McDoom’s sweetly lilting delivery.
    — Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026
  • And in Georgia, Democrats captured a governorship in a premier presidential swing state in Tuesday's midterm elections, winning the governor's office for the first time since 1998.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 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 8 Nov. 2026.

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