bombard [verb bom-bahrd , buh m-; noun bom -bahrd]
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for bombard on Thesaurus.com 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. Show More
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. Show More
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 forms bom·bard·er , noun bom·bard·ment , noun un·bom·bard·ed , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
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.
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 of bombard The Germans will bombard the whole of Paris if the possibility of doing so should be offered them.
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.
They continued to bombard these works daily until the 10th of September.
The Fenians, it was said, were raising a fleet to bombard Halifax.
British Dictionary definitions for bombard to attack with concentrated artillery fire or bombs to attack with vigour and persistence the boxer bombarded his opponent with blows to the body to attack verbally, esp with questions the journalists bombarded her with questions physics to direct high-energy particles or photons against (atoms, nuclei, etc) esp to produce ions or nuclear transformations Show More
an ancient type of cannon that threw stone balls Show More
Derived Forms bombardment , 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
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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
