To hide in or among woods or thickets, especially for military purposes.
From em- (meaning 'to put into') combined with busk, an archaic term for bushes or woodland. Used in military contexts from the 17th century onward to describe soldiers taking cover in vegetation.
This military term shows how armies in the 1600s and 1700s specifically named the tactic of hiding soldiers in forests and shrubland, which was crucial for effective surprise attacks before modern warfare.
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