v. U.S. [f. BUSH + WHACK v. to beat; prob. after BUSHWHACKER.] To act as a bushwhacker; to beat the bush; to attack or kill in the manner of a bushwhacker (sense 2).
1837. Fraser’s Mag., XVI. 613. The Colonel had begun to make a speech, or, as he phrases it, ‘to bushwhack in the most approved style.’
1866. J. E. Skinner, After Storm, I. 234. While peaceable citizens were robbed with impunity and government officers were bushwhacked.
1877. G. Fleming, Mirage, III. viii. 212. A good many men were missing, shot or bushwhacked, we did not know which.
