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:
But again, the initial consensus gives way to a barrage of new questions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
She said she received a barrage of requests from women who said, “Why don’t you like the Shore?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Speaker Johnson, who on Monday faced a barrage of questions about AI from reporters in the halls of Congress, gave no sign he intended to move quickly this week.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Amid a weeklong barrage of criticism, the Rams didn’t land in Melbourne for their season opener Thursday until 28 hours before kickoff while the San Francisco 49ers had been there all week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The canoe, and us clinging on with every ounce of strength, spun in the barrage of churning water.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
The Kosi and Gandak barrages are operated by India.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Since last Thursday, piecemeal Russian airstrikes around the clock have replaced periodic massive barrages at night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 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
On the water, teenagers jostle for control of an inflatable mattress -- the kind taken down sleep on in underground metro stations during Russia's nightly barrages.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 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
Never has a league been barraged with so much unsolicited advice, my own gas included.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
United were barraged by jeers from furious fans following the latest miserable result in another troubled season.
From Barron's ● Jan. 11, 2026
Although community concern peaked in those initial months, Hyperion continues to be barraged by odor complaints, which routinely reach into the hundreds each month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 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
“They’re barraging us with emails and calls,” Weeks said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
On the pass protection front, Pleasant — a 6-foot, 225-pound battering ram — credited his history as a high school defensive back with helping him to stone barraging blitzers.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2021
They started barraging her with questions about her outfit, and how she’d prepare.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2021
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.
