different between ambush vs waylaying

English

Etymology

From Middle English enbuschen, from Old French enbuscier, anbuchier (verb) (whence Middle French embusche (noun)), from Old French en- + Vulgar Latin boscus (“wood”), from Frankish *busk (“bush”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush, heavy stick”). Compare ambuscade. The change to am- from earlier forms in en- is unexplained. More at bush.

Pronunciation

• (General Australian, US, UK) IPA^(key): /?æm.b??/

Noun

ambush (plural ambushes)

1. The act of concealing oneself and lying in wait to attack by surprise.
2. An attack launched from a concealed position.
3. The troops posted in a concealed place, for attacking by surprise; those who lie in wait.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

ambush (third-person singular simple present ambushes, present participle ambushing, simple past and past participle ambushed)

1. (transitive) To station in ambush with a view to surprise an enemy.
   • 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour

     By ambush'd men behind their temple laid / We have the king of Mexico betray'd.

2. (transitive) To attack by ambush; to waylay.

Derived terms

• ambushable

Translations

Further reading

• ambush at OneLook Dictionary Search
• ambush in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

waylay +? -ing

Verb

waylaying

1. present participle of waylay

Noun

waylaying (plural waylayings)

1. The act by which somebody is waylaid; an ambush.
   • 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Purloined Letter"

     Such a man, I considered, could not fail to be aware of the ordinary policial modes of action. He could not have failed to anticipate—and events have proved that he did not fail to anticipate—the waylayings to which he was subjected.