as in ambushes
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise
a lonely stretch of highway along which unsuspecting tourists are often waylaid by gangs
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of waylays
These are the chapters that feature the merry trickster of the forest, Tom Bombadil, a classic fiddle-dee-dee-mischief type who waylays the hobbits at the onset of their quest.
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Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waylays
Verb
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All seems lost when a group of Stormtroopers ambushes the crew, but IG-11 heroically sacrifices himself to save them.—
Chris Snellgrove,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 May 2026
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Thurman stars as The Bride, left for dead after her former boss and lover Bill ambushes her wedding rehearsal, shooting her in the head and stealing her unborn child.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
29 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Democrats, meanwhile, say the rhetoric sounds strikingly similar to the populist arguments advanced by the very progressives DeSantis routinely attacks.—
Garrett Shanley,
Miami Herald,
3 June 2026
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Dennis waits until Mallory leaves to go on a bike ride, and then attacks her on the path.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Waylays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waylays. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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