bushwhack

UK: /ˈbʊʃˌwæk/ US: /ˈbʊʃˌhwæk, -ˌwæk/ ,(bŏŏsh′hwak′, -wak′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bush•whack /ˈbʊʃˌhwæk, -ˌwæk/   v. 

1. [no object] to make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth.
2. to ambush;
   hide in the woods and surprise and attack (someone):
   [~ + object] The gang bushwhacked the campers.

bush•whack•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bush•whack  (bŏŏsh′hwak′, -wak′), v.i. 

1. to make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc.
2. to travel through woods.
3. Nautical to pull a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore.
4. to fight as a bushwhacker or guerrilla in the bush.

v.t. 

5. to fight as a bushwhacker;
   ambush.
6. to defeat, esp. by surprise or in an underhanded way:
   They bushwhacked our high school team when they used college players.

• back formation from bushwhacker 1830–40, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bushwhack / ˈbʊʃˌwæk/ verb

1. (transitive) to ambush
2. (intransitive) to cut or beat one's way through thick woods
3. (intransitive) to range or move around in woods or the bush
4. (intransitive) to fight as a guerrilla in wild or uncivilized regions
5. (intransitive) to work in the bush, esp at timber felling