Bushwhacker

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who travels through the woods, off the designated path. US
  2. 2
    a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who lives in the bush, especially as a fugitive; a person who clears woods and bush country. Australia
  4. 4
    a disparaging term for an unsophisticated person wordnet
  5. 5
    A guerrilla (of either side) during the American Civil War. US, historical

    "The bushwhackers remained at General Cooper′s camp several days, then crossed the Red River into Texas."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Someone who attacks without warning. dated
  2. 7
    A small, soft-floored inflatable boat (designed for use by one or two people).

    "1977 September, Dave Hurteau, Air and Water, Field & Stream, page 90, We spent the rest of the day hopping from pond to pond with the bushwhackers, and we found them very suited for it."

Synonyms

All synonyms
ancestorannouncerantecedentavant gardeavant-gardebellwether

Example

More examples

"The bushwhackers remained at General Cooper′s camp several days, then crossed the Red River into Texas."

Etymology

From bush + whacker.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.