bushwhack: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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Word of the Day for Wednesday, May 4, 2011 bushwhack \BOOSH-hwak\, verb: 1. To defeat, especially by surprise or in an underhanded way. 2. To make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc. 3. To travel through woods. 4. To pull a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore. 5. To fight as a bushwhacker or guerrilla in the bush. "I don't think nobody would bushwhack a wagon full of orange trees." -- Patrick D. Smith, A Land Remembered: Volume 1 Back in the old days, said Blevins, this'd be just the place where Comanches'd lay for you and bushwhack you. -- Cormac McCarthy , All the pretty horses Bushwhack is a backformation from the Dutch bosch-wachter, "forest-keeper," which, during the American Civil War was adopted as bushwhacker to describe patriot guerillas or freebooters. Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help
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