am·bush (ăm'bʊsh)
n.

1. The act of lying in wait to attack by surprise.
2. A sudden attack made from a concealed position.
3. 1. Those hiding in order to attack by surprise.
   2. The hiding place used for this.
4. A hidden peril or trap.

tr.v., -bushed, -bush·ing, -bush·es.
To attack from a concealed position.

[Middle English embush, from Old French embusche, from embuschier, to ambush, from Frankish *boscu, bush, woods.]

ambusher am'bush'er n.

SYNONYMS   ambush, ambuscade, bushwhack, waylay. These verbs mean to attack suddenly and without warning from a concealed place: guerrillas ambushing a platoon; highway robbers ambuscading a stagecoach; a patrol bushwhacked by poachers; a truck waylaid by robbers.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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