From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishambusham‧bush /ˈæmbʊʃ/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] ATTACKa sudden attack on someone by people who have been hiding and waiting for them, or the place where this happens The soldiers were killed in an ambush. In winter the danger of ambush is much reduced.lie/wait in ambush Armed police lay in ambush behind the hedge.► see thesaurus at attack —ambush verb [transitive] Everybody thought our train would be ambushed, but we got out safely.
Examples from the Corpus
ambush• Six or seven of the passengers were killed in an ambush on the narrowest part of the road.• He no longer walked around as if every step might take him into an ambush.• They moved slowly, knowing that in the next clump of trees enemy soldiers might be lying in ambush.• If you must walk alone at night keep a look out for potential ambush spots and cross the road to avoid them.• I walk out of the building tensing myself for the ambush.• LoEsheLacy, a junior at McClymonds High School, was killed in the ambush.• The sappers crept a little closer, past the vacated ambush site.• Richard Montacune had been driven from his first vantage post, where ambush had given him the edge of surprise.lie/wait in ambush• The old enemies, undefeated, have devised new strategies; new assailants lie in ambush.• For all he knew, Mrs Solomon might have been waiting in ambush.• Had he been on the Cardinal's business or lying in ambush for Irvine?• They were calling off their comrades who waited in ambush further ahead.Origin ambush (1300-1400) Old French embuschier, from en “in” + busche “wood” 