ambush

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of concealing oneself and lying in wait to attack or kill by surprise.
2. (countable, uncountable)An attack launched from a concealed position.

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

3. (countable, uncountable)The concealed position or state from which a surprise attack is launched.

   “the Georgean hills, Whoſe tops are couered with Tartarian theeues, That lie in ambuſh, waiting for a pray:”

   “Therefore, why not wait in ambush for Conrad behind the door, and when he entered bring down a chair, or one of the decrepit pictures, smartly on to his head.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The troops posted in a concealed place, for attacking by surprise; those who lie in wait.

   “And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ranne as soone as he had stretched out his hand: and they entred into the city, and tooke it, and hasted, and set the citie on fire.”

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive)To station in ambush with a view to surprise an enemy.

   “By ambuſh’d men, behind their Temple laid, / VVe have the King of Mexico betray’d.”

2. (transitive)To attack by ambush; to waylay.

   “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.”