ambush

From Old French verb enbuscier, anbuchier (whence the Middle French noun embusche), from Old French en- + Vulgar Latin boscus, bosca, boscum (“wood”), from Frankish *boscu, *busk (“bush”), from Proto-Germanic *busk- (“bush, heavy stick”). Compare ambuscade. The change to am- from earlier forms in en- is unexplained. More at bush.

• (General Australian, US, UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.bʊʃ/

ambush (plural ambushes)

1. The act of concealing oneself and lying in wait to attack by surprise.
2. An attack launched from a concealed position.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege / Or ambush from the deep.

3. The troops posted in a concealed place, for attacking by surprise; those who lie in wait.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Josh. viii. 19

     The ambush arose quickly out of their place.

ambush (third-person singular simple present ambushes, present participle ambushing, simple past and past participle ambushed)

1. (transitive) To station in ambush with a view to surprise an enemy.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden

     By ambushed men behind their temple laid / We have the king of Mexico betrayed.

2. (transitive) To attack by ambush; to waylay.
   • 17 June 2018, Barney Ronay, The Guardian, Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win:

     The contrast with the start was profound. In the opening 40 minutes Löw’s team had been ambushed here, the world champions run into a state of breathless trauma by a thrillingly vibrant Mexico attack.

• ambush at OneLook Dictionary Search
• ambush in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.