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Glite Dictionary
dry-gulching

dry-gulching

1 9.9
An attack in which someone hides and kills another person by surprise in a lonely place
  • noun
  • /draɪ ˈɡʌltʃɪŋ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : emboscada
  • He fell victim to dry-gulching, ambushed as he walked home alone through the deserted alley.

Examples

  • Witnesses reported that the dry-gulching took place near the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town.

  • Now that's dry-gulching.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The gang planned a dry-gulching of their rival during the dark hours of the night.

Synonyms

bushwhacking
vsdry-gulching
  • US
1 9.9

An attack from hiding in thick bushes or a forest

focuses on killing someone by surprise in a remote place

Surface Forms

dry-gulching singular
dry-gulchings plural

Morphology

dry-gulching = dry + gulch (semi-transparent) = dry + gulch + ing

The components 'dry' + 'gulch' (a secluded ravine) are clear, but the specialized sense 'to ambush/kill by ambush' is an extended, idiomatic use not fully predictable for average learners.

Etymology

Dry-gulching comes from the parts dry and gulch. A gulch is like a gully, a 'narrow ravine' often 'without water' where someone can hide, so to 'dry-gulch' someone came to mean secretly attacking or killing them in that hidden place, which is why the word now means a cowardly ambush.