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D E F I N I T I O N S

A word, phrase, or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning. (Kent Bach,    Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Ambiguity)

…any verbal nuance, however slight, which gives room for alternative reactions to the same piece of language. (William Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity, London: Hogarth Press, 1927, quoted by Norman Scott, "Ambiguity versus Precision: The Changing Role of Terminology in Conference Diplomacy," Language and Diplomacy, Malta: DiploProjects, 2001)

…ambiguities are pieces of language that 1. can be interpreted as meaning A, 2. can be interpreted as meaning B, and 3. cannot be interpreted as A and B simultaneously, but, eventually, as a neutral (re)source, from which, under specific focuses of vision/interpretation, both A and B might at separate times spring…In order to qualify as an ambiguity an expression must generate not only “at least two different meanings”, but also two incompatible and unrelated meanings. It is only then that an expression is truly ambiguous (Drazen Pehar, "Use of Ambiguities in Peace Agreements," Language and Diplomacy, Malta: DiploProjects, 2001)

…ambiguity is a one-many relation between syntax and sense. (Geoffrey Leech, Semantics, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1987, quoted by Pehar)

A good visual model of ambiguity is the well-known “duck-rabbit” picture, a drawing which can be seen as either a duck or a rabbit, but not both at the same time. This picture thus includes two separate and incompatible possibilities.

For more information on how people resolve ambiguity in language read Ambiguous Words by Dr George Miller.