ambush
part of speech
noun (an ambush, ambushes); verb (ambush, ambushes, ambushed, ambushing)
meaning for a pupil
1) An ambush is a surprise attack by people or animals who have been hiding and waiting. tree →
2) (verb) To ambush someone means to hide and then attack them by surprise. tree →
3) (informal) To ambush someone can mean to surprise them with difficult questions or a sudden request. tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons, ambushes appear in stories of battles and wars. In nature lessons, ambush hunters like crocodiles and spiders wait still and then strike. In stories and games, an ambush makes a tense, exciting moment. In everyday talk, «Mum ambushed me with questions about homework» is a jokey use. Phrases: «lie in ambush», «walk into an ambush», «set an ambush».
examples
- The soldiers walked straight into an ambush. tree →
- The crocodile is an ambush hunter that waits in the water. tree →
- My little sisters ambushed me with water pistols. tree →
- The robbers lay in ambush beside the road. tree →
- The journalist ambushed the minister with a tricky question. tree →
- In the game, we set an ambush behind the castle wall. tree →
- The spider ambushed the fly from under a leaf. tree →
- A Lion lay in ambush in the hope of making them his prey, but was afraid to attack them while they kept together. tree →
note
Plural noun: ambushes. Regular verb: ambushed, ambushing. «An ambush» uses «an» because it starts with a vowel sound. An ambush is always a surprise; an open attack is not an ambush.
In the corpora
- Cats are ambush hunters, and even well-fed pet cats still hunt because the urge to chase and pounce is built in.
- Lionesses hunt together, some driving prey towards others hiding in ambush, so they can catch animals as strong as buffalo.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «ambush» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.