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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 heard the first explosions in Kyiv soon after midnight and the air raid lasted more than seven hours.

From BBC

Windows are draped in black, signs point the way to air raid shelters, and the few people dotting the street clutch gas masks and steel helmets.

From Literature

He said repair work was complicated by the freezing weather conditions and constant air raid sirens that force energy engineers to shelter to avoid attacks.

From Barron's

AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens and explosions as Ukrainian air defence systems responded to the drones and missiles.

From Barron's

Investors missed that the Nazis would overrun continental Europe and destroy much of British industry in air raids, and that the U.K. would lose its empire.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.