bombard

[verb bom-bahrd, buhm-; noun bom-bahrd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bombard ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to attack or batter with artillery fire.

to attack with bombs.

to assail vigorously: to bombard the speaker with questions.

Physics. to direct high energy particles or radiations against: to bombard a nucleus.

noun

the earliest kind of cannon, originally throwing stone balls.

Nautical. bomb ketch.

an English leather tankard of the 18th century and earlier, similar to but larger than a blackjack.

Obsolete. a leather jug.

Origin of bombard

1400–50; late Middle English (noun) < Medieval Latin bombarda stone-throwing engine (Latin bomb(us) booming noise (see bomb) + -arda -ard)

Related formsbom·bard·er, nounbom·bard·ment, nounun·bom·bard·ed, adjective

Synonyms for bombard

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bombard ON THESAURUS.COM

3. beset, harass, hound, besiege.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bombard

hound, bomb, besiege, pester, blitz, harass, barrage, batter, blast, strafe, catapult, shell, launch, cannonade, beset, pound, strike, assail

Examples from the Web for bombard

Contemporary Examples of bombard

Just Google “Patrick Wilson Girls backlash,” and wait for the hateful, Lena Dunham-bashing vitriol to bombard your screen.
Louis C.K. Apologizes to the ‘Fat Girls’
Amy Zimmerman
May 13, 2014
Your most grating acquaintance could – and usually would – bombard you with reams of unoriginal drivel at the press of a key.
Unconsidered Trifles: Found Comedy in the Age of Social Media
Tom Doran
March 30, 2013
Listen, suppose they got in, suppose they start to bombard Guantanamo?
JFK’s Secret White House Recordings Unveiled
Ted Widmer
September 25, 2012

Historical Examples of bombard

The Germans will bombard the whole of Paris if the possibility of doing so should be offered them.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
From this position they began to bombard parts of the inner ring.
The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of VIII)
Various
If so be that he intends in truth to bombard us, let him begin forthwith.
Love-at-Arms
Raphael Sabatini
They continued to bombard these works daily until the 10th of September.
The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775
Abraham Tomlinson
The Fenians, it was said, were raising a fleet to bombard Halifax.
A Soldier's Life
Edwin G. Rundle

British Dictionary definitions for bombard

bombard

verb (bɒmˈbɑːd) (tr)

to attack with concentrated artillery fire or bombs

to attack with vigour and persistencethe boxer bombarded his opponent with blows to the body

to attack verbally, esp with questionsthe journalists bombarded her with questions

physics to direct high-energy particles or photons against (atoms, nuclei, etc) esp to produce ions or nuclear transformations

noun (ˈbɒmbɑːd)

an ancient type of cannon that threw stone balls

Derived Formsbombardment, noun

Word Origin for bombard

C15: from Old French bombarder to pelt, from bombarde stone-throwing cannon, probably from Latin bombus booming sound; see bomb

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

Word Origin and History for bombard

early 15c., "catapult, military engine for throwing large stones," from Middle French bombarde "mortar, catapult" (14c.), from bombe (see bomb (n.)). The same word, from the same source, was used in English and French late 14c. in reference to the bass shawm, a bassoon-like musical instrument, preserving the "buzzing" sense in the Latin.

1590s, from French bombarder, from bombarde "mortar, catapult" (see bombard (n.)). Figurative sense by 1765. Related: Bombarded; bombarding.