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Synonyms

air raid

American  

noun

  1. a raid by aircraft, especially for bombing a particular area.

air raid British  

noun

    1. an attack by hostile aircraft

    2. ( as modifier )

      an air-raid shelter
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • air raider noun
  • air-raid adjective

Etymology

Origin of air raid

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“We just drop everything whenever there is an air raid siren,” said Nina Zabela, the head of Lozova railway station, where she has worked for the past 32 years.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Children have lost their parents, their friends and are sleeping in air raid shelters," said Social Affairs Minister Ulyutyn.

From Barron's

Many Ukrainians rely on power banks and generators as a back-up, and the sound of generators in the capital is now more constant than the air raid warnings.

From BBC

The Sudan Witness Project has continued monitoring air raids beyond July 2025 but says there has been a shift towards drone strikes by both parties in recent months.

From BBC

Walk the streets of Kyiv and you'll pass a sea of tired faces - people's eyes are red from a lack of sleep, their rest broken by the air raid sirens.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.