Surprising and attacking someone by waiting hidden and then suddenly appearing; taking someone by unexpected attack.
From Old French embuscher (en- 'in' + busche 'woods/bush'), from Frankish *busk meaning 'bush.' The word originally meant to hide in the woods and came to mean any surprise attack from hiding.
Medieval warriors used ambushes constantly, so this word was born from actual forest battles—the visual image of someone literally 'in the bush' stuck so well that it became our word for any surprise attack, from military tactics to marketing.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.