as in attacking
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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Recent Examples of ambushing
Among the Builsa people, songs are still sung about retreating from slave raiders into rocky and cavernous areas, and then ambushing them.
—
Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
Over the past two months, JNIM has stepped up attacks on fuel supplies, ambushing tankers on the roads from Ivory Coast and Senegal.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
After ambushing Fuller at her mansion, Teddy and his accomplice/cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) knock her unconscious with a tranquilizer and load her into the backseat of her own car.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
The offense also turned in another strong performance, ambushing Scherzer for three runs out of the gate before later getting home runs from Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Narvaez to turn the game into a rout.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
The entertainment giant accused Sling TV’s parent of ambushing it with the offering, allegedly without consultation, to capitalize on the starts of the college football and NFL seasons.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The president has constantly mocked Powell on social media, and accused him of mismanaging renovations of the Fed’s headquarters, even ambushing the Fed chief with a new cost estimate for a facility renovation in front of rolling television cameras.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 29 Aug. 2025
Meanwhile, rogues’ daggers deal heavy damage when ambushing foes with a flurry of stamina-draining attacks.
—Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
Over the past two months, JNIM has stepped up attacks on fuel supplies, ambushing tankers on the roads from Ivory Coast and Senegal.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
After ambushing Fuller at her mansion, Teddy and his accomplice/cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) knock her unconscious with a tranquilizer and load her into the backseat of her own car.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
The offense also turned in another strong performance, ambushing Scherzer for three runs out of the gate before later getting home runs from Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Narvaez to turn the game into a rout.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
The entertainment giant accused Sling TV’s parent of ambushing it with the offering, allegedly without consultation, to capitalize on the starts of the college football and NFL seasons.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The president has constantly mocked Powell on social media, and accused him of mismanaging renovations of the Fed’s headquarters, even ambushing the Fed chief with a new cost estimate for a facility renovation in front of rolling television cameras.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 29 Aug. 2025
Meanwhile, rogues’ daggers deal heavy damage when ambushing foes with a flurry of stamina-draining attacks.
—Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ambushing
Verb
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The demonstrations intensified after a federal officer shot a Venezuelan man accused of fleeing a traffic stop and attacking an agent, federal officials said.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
16 Jan. 2026
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After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.—
Steve Karnowski,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Sutherland is accused of entering the vehicle and physically assaulting the driver, police said.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
15 Jan. 2026
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Jerson Lopez-Sanchez, 28, a citizen of Honduras, was indicted and charged with three counts of assaulting federal immigration agents, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Thursday.—
Rachel Wolf , Brooke Taylor,
FOXNews.com,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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By capturing and using the static electricity in compressed air, this system offers a sustainable way to generate electricity while also neutralizing hazardous charges that pose safety risks.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
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Like Dostoyevsky, Capote doesn’t portray his killers as demonic ciphers, instead capturing their messy complexity.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ambushing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ambushing. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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