: a dam placed in a watercourse to increase the depth of water or to divert it into a channel for navigation or irrigation
1
military
: artillery fire laid on a line (see line entry 1 sense 6c) close to friendly troops to screen and protect them
The enemy laid down a barrage of machine-gun fire as our platoon approached the bridge.
2
: a vigorous or rapid outpouring or projection of many things at once
a barrage of phone calls
unleashed a barrage of insults
an oratorical barrage
barraged; barraging
: to deliver a barrage (see barrage entry 2) against
were barraged with bullets
being barraged by campaign ads before the election
Synonyms
Examples of barrage in a Sentence
Noun (2)
the teacher's rapid-fire barrage of homework assignments went by too fast for me to write them all down
Verb
the star athlete was barraged with requests for an autograph
Recent Examples on the Web
Keith Wagstaff, Popular Science, 5 June 2024
This followed a barrage of attacks from Musk against Meta’s products and services.
—Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 May 2024
As much as the war’s recently stepped up in new theaters — drone strikes on energy installations, missile barrages, attacks on ships in the Baltic — the dispute is fundamentally over territory, and so depends on Ukraine’s ability to replenish its soldiers.
—Olesia Safronova, Fortune, 26 May 2024
But even the most fervent of Eurovision fans pledged to boycott the event this year, objecting to the barrage of missile strikes on Gaza.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage 
Noun
Isaac Newton’s physics paved the way for Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, leading to even more complicated questions in quantum physics that are now sparking a barrage of questions that will ultimately lead us … where?
—Keith Wagstaff, Popular Science, 5 June 2024
This followed a barrage of attacks from Musk against Meta’s products and services.
—Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 May 2024
As much as the war’s recently stepped up in new theaters — drone strikes on energy installations, missile barrages, attacks on ships in the Baltic — the dispute is fundamentally over territory, and so depends on Ukraine’s ability to replenish its soldiers.
—Olesia Safronova, Fortune, 26 May 2024
But even the most fervent of Eurovision fans pledged to boycott the event this year, objecting to the barrage of missile strikes on Gaza.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barrage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near barrage
Cite this Entry
“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 15 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share