: 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
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
Sebastien Roblin, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The barrage included targets in Western Ukraine, a region far from the front lines that doesn't often see bombardments.
—Greg Dixon, NPR, 30 June 2025
Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 29 June 2025
But, once the accusation spread, Samara was barraged with threats.
—Eyal Press, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for barrage
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Noun
To be fair, the drone barrages may still have aided Iran by diverting attention from ballistic missiles and compelling expenditures of expensive missiles.
—Sebastien Roblin, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The barrage included targets in Western Ukraine, a region far from the front lines that doesn't often see bombardments.
—Greg Dixon, NPR, 30 June 2025
Verb
When Murkowski finally appeared on the floor, she was quickly surrounded by Thune, Barrasso, Graham and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who barraged her on all sides with points and interjections.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 29 June 2025
But, once the accusation spread, Samara was barraged with threats.
—Eyal Press, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for barrage
Cite this Entry
“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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