: 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
Alex Harring, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
Wednesday night's attack was the second-largest Russian drone and missile barrage of the full-scale invasion to date, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 30 Oct. 2025
Sarah Meira Schlager, Sun Sentinel, 2 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for barrage
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Noun
The Daily Dividend With the ongoing government shutdown, a Federal Reserve meeting and a barrage of earnings reports, you were bound to miss some headlines this week.
—Alex Harring, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
Wednesday night's attack was the second-largest Russian drone and missile barrage of the full-scale invasion to date, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
The rest remained silent as Israel was barraged with accusations by fellow classmates.
—Sarah Meira Schlager, Sun Sentinel, 2 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for barrage
Cite this Entry
“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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