ambuscade
2 synonyms for ambuscade, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A surprise attack set up to catch an enemy off guard.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Etymology
Came into English from French embuscade, which came from Italian imboscata, the past participle of imboscare, meaning ‘to ambush’. This in turn came from Vulgar Latin *imbosco, meaning ‘I hide, ambush’ (see there for more), from Frankish *busk, meaning ‘bush’, from Proto-Germanic *buskaz, meaning ‘bush, heavy stick’. C...
Full origin of ambuscade →