Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
guet-apens. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
guet-apens, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
guet-apens in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
guet-apens you have here. The definition of the word
guet-apens will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
guet-apens, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
French
Etymology
An alteration of Middle French d'agais apensés, corresponding to aguet (“ambush”) + past participle of apenser (“conceive of”).
Pronunciation
Noun
guet-apens m (plural guets-apens)
- ambush
1898, Octave Mirbeau, “Le Guet-apens de Toulouse”, in L'Affaire Dreyfus:Même scène dans les couloirs. Mais, à la sortie, le guet-apens criminel devint plus manifeste : vos gendarmes à cheval nous refoulèrent systématiquement vers la foule hostile et, à trois mètres des bandes forcenées qui poussaient des cris de mort et brandissaient leurs matraques dans les allées Lafayette, un coup de revolver, destiné à Pressensé, fut tiré ; la balle passa entre Pressensé et Quillard, qui lui tenait toujours le bras.- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (figuratively) trap
- Synonym: traquenard
Further reading