bombard
[verb bom-bahrd, buhm-; noun bom-bahrd]
- 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.
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- 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.
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Origin of bombard
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
houndbombbesiegepesterblitzharassbarragebatterblaststrafecatapultshelllaunchcannonadebesetpoundstrikeassailExamples from the Web for bombard
Contemporary Examples
Just Google “Patrick Wilson Girls backlash,” and wait for the hateful, Lena Dunham-bashing vitriol to bombard your screen.
Your most grating acquaintance could – and usually would – bombard you with reams of unoriginal drivel at the press of a key.
Listen, suppose they got in, suppose they start to bombard Guantanamo?
Historical Examples
The Germans will bombard the whole of Paris if the possibility of doing so should be offered them.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
From this position they began to bombard parts of the inner ring.
If so be that he intends in truth to bombard us, let him begin forthwith.
Love-at-ArmsRaphael Sabatini
They continued to bombard these works daily until the 10th of September.
The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775Abraham Tomlinson
The Fenians, it was said, were raising a fleet to bombard Halifax.
A Soldier's LifeEdwin G. Rundle
bombard
- 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
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- an ancient type of cannon that threw stone balls
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for bombard
n.
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.
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v.
1590s, from French bombarder, from bombarde "mortar, catapult" (see bombard (n.)). Figurative sense by 1765. Related: Bombarded; bombarding.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper