barrage

1 of 3

noun (1)

bar·​rage ˈbär-ij How to pronounce barrage (audio)
: a dam placed in a watercourse to increase the depth of water or to divert it into a channel for navigation or irrigation

barrage

2 of 3

noun (2)

bar·​rage bə-ˈräzh How to pronounce barrage (audio) -ˈräj How to pronounce barrage (audio)
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

barrage

3 of 3

verb

bar·​rage bə-ˈräzh How to pronounce barrage (audio) -ˈräj How to pronounce barrage (audio)
barraged; barraging

transitive verb

: 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
Noun
On an otherwise quiet backfield at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch complex this spring, a barrage of expletives rang out from the mound one late February day. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2024 Hamas also killed three Israeli soldiers with a rocket barrage on Sunday on the border crossing of Kerem Shalom, one of its worst missile attacks in weeks. Galit Altstein, TIME, 6 May 2024 That same year, Wood, Boyd, Monaghan, and Astin also voiced their support for spinoff series Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power amid a barrage of racist attacks made against its cast. EW.com, 4 May 2024 May 3, 2024 London The horn of official triumphalism still sounds unabated in Iran, nearly three weeks after the Islamic Republic launched an unprecedented barrage, from Iranian soil, of more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 May 2024 France, Germany and Poland have accused Russia of launching a barrage of propaganda to try to shape the outcome of the European parliamentary elections in June. Dan De Luce, NBC News, 30 Apr. 2024 In the days leading up to Rittenhouse's appearance at The University of Memphis in March, the school fielded a barrage of complaints from students, faculty, and community members. USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2024 The Iranian assault did not cause major damage or injuries, because Israeli, U.S. and other forces intercepted most of the barrage. Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024 Iran’s barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles enables its leadership to claim vengeance for Israel’s April 1 assassination of seven senior Revolutionary Guards commanders. Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
Verb
But the entertainment company, which has 1.8 billion shares outstanding, has nonetheless barraged him for months with political-style campaign materials (letters, email, social media ads) that urge him to elect certain people to its board. Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024 Cybersecurity pros are barraged by dozens, if not hundreds, of cybersecurity products added as acronyms. R. Scott Raynovich, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 Israel left the Gaza Strip almost two decades ago and, followed by a violent coup by Hamas, watched as the terrorist group diverted humanitarian aid to tunnels and offshore bank accounts, deprived its citizens, and barraged Israel with rockets. TIME, 20 Feb. 2024 In other videos, Russian forces can be seen being barraged by U.S.-supplied cluster munitions. Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 23 Oct. 2023 Instantly, Heffernan said, trolls descended, barraging her with anti-Semitic and misogynistic messages. Sarah Blaskey, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 2024 Like in 2013, when the nonprofit punk fanzine Razorcake applied for a tiny Los Angeles-area FM station on the same signal as an EMF translator down in Orange County, and EMF barraged it with complaints about potential interference. Katie Thornton, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2024 One of the biggest DDoS defense firms in the world could no longer handle the scale of the data torrent barraging his site. Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 14 Nov. 2023 For about 20 seconds, McAbee, body weighed about 300 pounds, was on top of Wayte while rioters barraged the officer on all sides. Rachel Weiner, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023

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.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

French, from barrer to bar, from barre bar

Noun (2)

French (tir de) barrage barrier fire

Verb

verbal derivative of barrage entry 2

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1837, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1918, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of barrage was in 1837

Dictionary Entries Near barrage

Cite this Entry

“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 10 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

barrage

noun
bar·​rage
bə-ˈräzh,
-ˈräj
1
: a barrier formed by continuous artillery or machine-gun fire directed upon a narrow strip of ground
2
: a rapid or furiously active flow (as of speech or writing)

More from Merriam-Webster on barrage

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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