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待ち伏せ (まちぶせ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word› JLPT N1 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation 待ち伏せする · noun or participle which takes 'suru'
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 待ま ち 伏ぶ せする 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしない Polite 待ま ち 伏ぶ せします 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしません Past polite 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしました 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしませんでした Past 待ま ち 伏ぶ せした 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしなかった Te-form 待ま ち 伏ぶ せして 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしないで Desire 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしたい 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしたくない Potential 待ま ち 伏ぶ せできる 待ま ち 伏ぶ せできない Passive 待ま ち 伏ぶ せされる 待ま ち 伏ぶ せされない Causative 待ま ち 伏ぶ せさせる 待ま ち 伏ぶ せさせない Causative passive 待ま ち 伏ぶ せさせられる 待ま ち 伏ぶ せさせられない Volitional 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしよう Polite volitional 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしましょう Imperative 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしろ 待ま ち 伏ぶ せするな Conditional 待ま ち 伏ぶ せすれば 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしなければ Tara conditional 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしたら 待ま ち 伏ぶ せしなかったら
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は
森もり
の
中なか
で
敵てき
を
待ま
ち
伏ぶ
せ
し
た
。
The soldiers lay in wait for the enemy in the forest.
I was ambushed on my way home.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 を 待ま ち 伏ぶ せする to lie in wait for someone; to ambush someone
The culprit was lying in wait for the victim.
〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 で 待ま ち 伏ぶ せする to ambush someone at a place
The enemy lay in ambush in the forest.
待ま ち 伏ぶ せに 遭あ う to fall victim to an ambush
The soldiers were ambushed and suffered heavy losses.
待ま ち 伏ぶ せを 仕し 掛か ける to set an ambush
The rebels set an ambush on the road.
Kanji 伏 prostrated, bend down, bow Related words 奇襲 emphasizes the sudden attack itself, while 待ち伏せ emphasizes hiding and waiting quietly before striking.
待ち伏せ is the noun/する-verb form for an ambush, while 待ち伏せる is the plain transitive verb meaning to lie in wait for someone.
待ち伏せ refers to the act of lying in wait or ambushing, while 伏兵 refers to the hidden troops or person themselves who do the ambushing.
Counted with 待ち伏せ is typically counted with 回 for each occurrence of an ambush, as in 二回の待ち伏せ.
待ち伏せ can also be counted with 件 when referring to it as a reported incident, as in 一件の待ち伏せ.
Written forms 待ま ち 伏ぶ せ Usage 90%
Standard and high-priority spelling for the noun and する-verb meaning an ambush or lying in wait.
待ま ちぶせ Usage 6%
Mixed kanji-kana spelling given; understandable, but 待ち伏せ is the standard form.
待まち 伏ぶ せ Usage 4%
Attested spelling with less okurigana; less common than 待ち伏せ.
Etymology A transparent compound of 待ち, the continuative/noun form of 待つ meaning 'to wait,' and 伏せ, related to 伏せる meaning 'to lie low, hide, or lay down.'