✅ A bow is a movement of bending at the waist or head in order to show respect, acknowledgement, thanks, or similar (I thanked him with a bow).

✅ A curtsy is a specific type of bow, involving bending the knees in a dip and sweeping a foot behind while maintaining a straight back (You must learn how to perform a curtsy at the beginning of the dance). If one is wearing a skirt, then the sides may be pulled away from the body during the dip of a curtsy.

✅ Curtsy and bow differ in motion but also in intention—a curtsy is traditionally performed to show respect or reverence in the presence of royalty.

✅ Ambush refers to the act of lying in wait and attacking unexpectedly. It can be literal or figurative (I thought I was ready for that question but they caught me in an ambush).

✅ An ambuscade is the same as an ambush (We plotted an ambuscade to capture Robin Hood’s men), but it is not as common.

✅ The word ambush has been used in English for longer than ambuscade, but ambuscade sounds more old-fashioned and is more formal.

✅ A meadow is an area of grassland that livestock can graze on or that can be used to grow hay (We camped in a beautiful meadow).

✅ A pasture is also an area of grassland that livestock can graze on (There were six sheep in the pasture).

✅ Meadow, however, can refer to any field of grass or wildflowers, whether or not animals graze on it, whereas pasture particularly implies the presence of livestock.