bushwhacker
Hides, then strikes
A bushwhacker is someone who clears brush or makes their way through wild, overgrown country.
During the American Civil War, the term referred to Confederate guerrilla fighters who ambushed from concealment—giving rise to the verb bushwhack, meaning to attack from hiding or to travel through rough terrain: We bushwhacked through the undergrowth for miles.
In Australian and New Zealand English, a bushwhacker is someone who lives or works in the bush.
Early explorer or settler
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
- explorerOne who investigates unfamiliar regions
- frontiersmanSettler of wild borders
- settlerOne who colonizes territory
trapper · scout · woodsman · backwoodsman · homesteader · prospector · wilderness · backcountry
One who revolts
- partisanBiased toward one side
- rebelAuthority defier
- irregularDeviating from normal patterns
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
militant · revolutionary · raider · confederate · unionist · jayhawker · paramilitary · underground
Armed roadside thief
- desperadoBold, reckless outlaw
- brigandArmed robber, often rural
- highwaymanMounted thief targeting travelers
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
fugitive · rustler · raider · plunderer · marauder · robber · thief · criminal
pioneer
Early explorer or settler
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
- explorerOne who investigates unfamiliar regions
- frontiersmanSettler of wild borders
settler · trapper · scout · woodsman · backwoodsman · homesteader · prospector · wilderness · backcountry · remote
insurgent
One who revolts
resistance · militant · revolutionary · raider · confederate · unionist · jayhawker · paramilitary · underground · cell
bandit
Armed roadside thief
- desperadoBold, reckless outlaw
- brigandArmed robber, often rural
- highwaymanMounted thief targeting travelers
renegade · fugitive · rustler · raider · plunderer · marauder · robber · thief · criminal · scoundrel
ambush
Surprise strike from concealment
strike · lurker · stalker · predator · raider · concealment · camouflage · stealth · sniper · infiltrator
machete
Heavy broad-bladed knife
- brushBristled cleaning tool
- thicketDense shrub cluster
- undergrowthLow forest vegetation
clearing · hacking · chopping · vegetation · dense · jungle · overgrown · scrub · bramble · vines
- frontierfrontier, pioneer, pioneers, settlers, settler
- Outlawsoutlaw, bandit, desperado, highwayman, robber
- Civil War Slangskedaddle, Johnny Reb, bluebelly, grayback, copperhead
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- American slangbamboozle, bogus, bunkum, conniption, discombobulate
- Plundererslooter, marauder, pillager, plunderer, raider
bushwhackerregular
Occurring at fixed intervals
professional soldier · infantryman · commissioned officer · enlisted soldier · enlisted man
bushwhackertenderfoot
Inexperienced beginner
greenhorn · city slicker · newcomer · dude · pilgrim
bushwhack, bushwhacked, bushwhackers, bushwhacking, bushwhacks