bushwhacker

[boo sh-hwak-er, -wak-er] /ˈbʊʃˌʰwæk ər, -ˌwæk ər/
noun
1.
a person or thing that bushwhacks.
2.
(in the American Civil War) a guerrilla, especially a Confederate.
3.
any guerrilla or outlaw.
4.
Australian Slang. an unsophisticated person; hick.
Origin
1800-10, Americanism; bush1 + whacker
Related forms
bushwhacking, noun
British Dictionary definitions for bushwhacker

bushwhacker

/ˈbʊʃˌwækə/
noun
1.
(US & Canadian, Austral) a person who travels around or lives in thinly populated woodlands
2.
(Austral, informal) an unsophisticated person; boor
3.
a Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War
4.
(US) any guerrilla
5.
(NZ) a person who works in the bush, esp at timber felling
Word Origin and History for bushwhacker
n.

also bush-whacker, 1809, American English, literally "one who beats the bushes" (to make his way through), perhaps modeled on Dutch bosch-wachter "forest keeper;" see bush (n.) + whack (v.). In American Civil War, "irregular who took to the woods" (1862), variously regarded as patriot guerillas or as freebooters. Hence bushwhack (v.), 1837; bushwhacking (1826).