Crossword clues for bushwhacker
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bushwhacker \Bush"whack`er\, n.
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One accustomed to beat about, or travel through, bushes.
They were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight.
--W. Irving. A guerrilla; a marauding assassin; one who pretends to be a peaceful citizen, but secretly harasses a hostile force or its sympathizers. [U.S.]
--Farrow.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also bush-whacker, 1809, American English, literally "one who beats the bushes" (to make his way through), perhaps modeled on Dutch bosch-wachter "forest keeper;" see bush (n.) + whack (v.). In American Civil War, "irregular who took to the woods" (1862), variously regarded as patriot guerillas or as freebooters. Hence bushwhack (v.), 1837; bushwhacking (1826).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context US English) One who travels through the woods, off the designated path. 2 (context Australia English) A person who lives in the bush, especially as a fugitive; a person who clears woods and bush country. 3 (context US historical English) A guerrilla (of either side) during the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%20Civil%20War. 4 (context dated English) Someone who attacks without warning. 5 A small, soft-floored inflatable boat (designed for use by one or two people).
WordNet
n. a disparaging term for an unsophisticated person [syn: hillbilly]
a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War
Wikipedia
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the aim of attrition.
Bushwhackers were generally part of the irregular military forces on both sides. While bushwhackers conducted well-organized raids against the military, the most dire of the attacks involved ambushes of individuals or families in rural areas. In areas affected by bushwhacking, the actions were particularly inflammatory since they often amounted to fighting between neighbors, to settle personal accounts. Since the attacks were non-uniformed, the government response was complicated by trying to decide whether they were legitimate military attacks or criminal, terrorist actions.
Usage examples of "bushwhacker".
If he could reach it, he could work his way along it until he might have a shot at the bushwhacker from a different angle.
Longarm to cover fifteen of those yards before the bushwhacker realized he was in no danger from the handgun.
Having seen Longarm disappear into the gully, the bushwhacker might be playing it safe.
There was only one bushwhacker, Longarm saw, and the man was already mounted up and wheeling his horse around, about fifty yards away.
The bushwhacker twisted in the saddle and tried to bring his own rifle around for a shot, but Longarm pressed the trigger first.
The bushwhacker wore range clothes, and it was clear from the high-crowned hat that had fallen from his head and the riding boots on his feet that he was no lumberjack.
Earlier, Longarm had been clear about the bushwhacker wanting to kill him, yet now he was telling a different story.
He stayed absolutely still, watching the bushwhacker on the other side of the gully through a tiny gap in the screen of brush.
If there was one thing a bushwhacker hated more than an abolitionist, it was an abolitionist with a congregation.
He straightened in his saddle, and it seemed to Sam that his metallic gaze fell on each bushwhacker in turn.
True, each man had his own reasons for becoming a bushwhacker in the first place, but none of them would have dreamed of attempting a raid so far into Kansas if Quantrill had not offered to lead them in it.
They seemed eager to be at the head of the bushwhacker force as it entered Kansas.
A man recognized as a bushwhacker in Kansas might not stand much of a chance.
Malachi Slater gunned down half my men in the woods along with his bushwhacker friends.
No, the army would take a damned dim view of being faced down by a bushwhacker and pulling out of a long-established garrison post just because a few of their soldiers have been killed.