different between ambush vs toadfish

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

toad +? fish, in reference to their toadlike appearance.

Noun

toadfish (plural toadfish or toadfishes)

1. Any fish thought to resemble a toad
   1. Any of the ray-finned fishes of family Batrachoididae of benthic ambush predators.
   2. Certain species in family Tetraodontidae
      1. The banded toadfish, of Australia (Torquigener pleurogramma)
      2. The blackspotted toadfish, of the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans (Arothron nigropunctatus)
      3. The common toadfish (or toadfish), of Australia and New Zealand (Tetractenos hamiltoni)
      4. The prickly toadfish, of Australia and New Zealand (Contusus richei)
      5. The red striped toadfish, of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (Dichotomyctere erythrotaenia, syn. Tetraodon erythrotaenia)
      6. The smooth toadfish, of Australia (Tetractenos glaber)
   3. Certain species in family Psychrolutidae
      1. The dark toadfish (Neophrynichthys latus)
      2. The frilled toadfish, of Macquarie Island (Ambophthalmos magnicirrus)
      3. The pale toadfish of New Zealand (Ambophthalmos angustus)

Usage notes

• For information on the choice of plural, see fish.

Translations

See also

• frogfish