barrage
Americannoun
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barrages
plural
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Military. a heavy barrier of artillery fire to protect one's own advancing or retreating troops or to stop the advance of enemy troops.
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an overwhelming quantity or explosion, as of words, blows, or criticisms.
a barrage of questions.
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Civil Engineering. an artificial obstruction in a watercourse to increase the depth of the water, facilitate irrigation, etc.
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Mycology. an aversion response of sexually incompatible fungus cultures that are growing in proximity, revealed by a persistent growth gap between them.
verb (used with object)
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barrages,
present (3rd person singular)
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barraged,
past participle, past
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barraging
present participle
noun
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military the firing of artillery to saturate an area, either to protect against an attack or to support an advance
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an overwhelming and continuous delivery of something, as words, questions, or punches
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a usually gated construction, similar to a low dam, across a watercourse, esp one to increase the depth of water to assist navigation or irrigation
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fencing a heat or series of bouts in a competition
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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barragesimple
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barragessimple
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have barragedperfect
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has barragedperfect
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am barragingprogressive
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are barragingprogressive
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is barragingprogressive
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have been barragingperfect progressive
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has been barragingperfect progressive
Past
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barragedsimple
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had barragedperfect
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was barragingprogressive
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were barragingprogressive
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had been barragingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of barrage
1855–60; < French: blocking, barring off, barrier, equivalent to barr ( er ) to bar 1 + -age -age; artillery sense by ellipsis from French tir de barrage barrier fire
Explanation
A barrage is something that comes quickly and heavily — as an attack of bullets or artillery, or a fast spray of words. Sometimes in movies or news footage, the audience gets a glimpse from behind a mounted weapon and sees a heavy rain of bombs or bullets — called a barrage — going toward a target, sending as much POW! as possible to hit a wide area. Words become a barrage when spoken or written in uncontrollable anger or with overflowing emotion: "Her human-rights speech was a barrage of passion. It was hard to keep up with, but we felt the intensity of her cause."
Vocabulary lists containing barrage
Touching Spirit Bear
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Grade 10, List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
His wide base left him uncomfortably stretched out, and his hand position was leading to a barrage of routine ground balls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
A barrage of newly concocted action sequences in the second half makes the pacing so off-balance that the film feels like a heron trying to fly with one blinged-out wing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Norman’s practice of old-fashioned retail politics is faced off by a barrage of television ads on Graham’s behalf.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
But faced with an almost daily barrage of Russian ballistic missiles, correspondent Joe Inwood explains why the offer may not be enough to win the war.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
We let loose a barrage, missing for the most part but making them dodge.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
The Kosi and Gandak barrages are operated by India.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Ukrainians fear this could be the first in a wave of brutal assaults leading up to Ukrainian independence day on Monday—a date on which Moscow has often launched huge missile barrages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
In Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, near-daily drone barrages have imposed a furtive rhythm to residents’ lives, making every trip to the market, school, health clinic or a relative’s home a gamble.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
On Saturday night, AFP journalists witnessed long-range drones being launched toward Russia, in what turned out to be one of the largest barrages of the conflict.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
The Allies, after much trial and error, learned to use their tanks effectively in coordination with artillery barrages, infantry assaults, and—toward the end of the war—attacks by low-flying aircraft.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
At an annual meeting of financial-aid administrators hosted by the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid earlier this year, people who work in college financial aid barraged government officials with questions about the change.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Stars like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and teenage wonder Macklin Celebrini repeatedly barraged the zone, to no avail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
United were barraged by jeers from furious fans following the latest miserable result in another troubled season.
From Barron's ● Jan. 11, 2026
Some piers sheltered from the typical northwestward storm now get barraged from all angles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2024
As our confusion turned to shock and anger, we barraged the little man with questions.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Aymann Ismail knew something was up when his Egyptian mom started barraging him with Piers Morgan clips.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2023
Those complaints in 2018 and 2020 about Jackson barraging students with social media and text messages, first reported by The Seattle Times, posed no obstacle to Jackson staying on the job.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 16, 2023
Hotels and travel brands also struggle to vet the deluge of travel influencers barraging them with requests for all-expenses-paid vacations in exchange for social media posts.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2022
Many more mayoral hopefuls are barraging labor leaders for their support, with one key union already committed: Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, landed an early endorsement from a union representing 45,000 retail workers.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2020
Seven and Thorn did as she said, surrounding the Nightbeast as best they could and barraging it with combat spells as fast as they could go.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
