WAYLAY

ambush, scupper, bushwhack, waylay, lurk, ambuscade, lie in wait

(verb) wait in hiding to attack

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

waylay (third-person singular simple present waylays, present participle waylaying, simple past and past participle (nonstandard) waylayed or waylaid)

(transitive) To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.

Synonyms: ambush, lurk

(transitive) To accost or intercept unexpectedly.

Synonym: buttonhole

Source: Wiktionary

Way"lay`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Waylaid; p. pr. & vb. n. Waylaying.] Etym: [Way + lay.]

Definition: To lie in wait for; to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid. Shak. She often contrived to waylay him in his walks. Sir W. Scott.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition