HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
n. 1. A sudden attack made from a concealed position. 2. a. Those hiding in order to attack by surprise: The captain stationed an ambush near the harbor. b. The hiding place used for such an attack: "Uncle Harm had hunted the way Trapper did—on foot, stalking and laying traps, shooting from ambush" (Rick Bass). tr.v. am·bushed, am·bush·ing, am·bush·es To attack from a concealed position. [Middle English embushen, to place in concealment among bushes, lay in wait, from Old French embuschier, from Frankish *boscu, bush, woods.] ambush′er n. Synonyms: ambush, bushwhack, waylay These verbs mean to attack suddenly and without warning from a concealed place: guerrillas ambushing a platoon; a patrol bushwhacked by poachers; a truck waylaid by robbers. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
