bombard

noun

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bom·bard | \ ˈbäm-ˌbärd

Definition of bombard

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a late medieval cannon used to hurl large stones

bombard

verb

bom·bard | \ bäm-ˈbärd

also bəm- \

bombarded; bombarding; bombards

Definition of bombard (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to attack especially with artillery or bombers

2 : to assail vigorously or persistently (as with questions)

3 : to subject to the impact of rapidly moving particles (such as electrons)

Other Words from bombard Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did you know? Example Sentences Learn More About bombard

Choose the Right Synonym for bombard

Verb

attack, assail, assault, bombard, storm mean to make an onslaught upon. attack implies taking the initiative in a struggle. plan to attack the town at dawn assail implies attempting to break down resistance by repeated blows or shots. assailed the enemy with artillery fire assault suggests a direct attempt to overpower by suddenness and violence of onslaught. commandos assaulted the building from all sides bombard applies to attacking with bombs or shells. bombarded the city nightly storm implies attempting to break into a defended position. preparing to storm the fortress

Did you know?

In the late Middle Ages, a bombard was a cannon used to hurl large stones at enemy fortifications. Its name, which first appeared in English in the 15th century, comes from the Middle French bombarde, which in turn was probably a combination of the onomatopoeic bomb- and the suffix -arde (equivalent to the English -ard). The verb bombard blasted onto the scene in English in the 17th century, with an original meaning of "to attack especially with artillery"; as weapons technology improved throughout the centuries, such artillery came to include things like automatic rifles and bomber aircraft. Nowadays one can be bombarded figuratively in any number of ways, such as by omnipresent advertising messages or persistent phone calls.

Examples of bombard in a Sentence

Verb The navy bombarded the shore. Scientists bombarded the sample with X-rays. The car was bombarded by rocks as it drove away from the angry crowd.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb My best advice is to bombard them with joy and power and freedom and jubilation and celebration. — The Hollywood Reporter, 13 June 2022 Next, multiple lasers bombard the strontium atoms with photons and magnetic fields that slow atom momentum to a near motionless state, lowering the atom’s temperatures to about one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero. — Paul Smith-goodson, Forbes, 2 June 2022 Russia continues to bombard the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol. — Katya Soldak, Forbes, 14 May 2022 The war in Ukraine has wracked the country’s southern coast as Russian forces fire cruise missiles at the city of Odesa and bombard a steel mill in the port of Mariupol housing Ukrainian civilians and fighters. — Elena Becatoros And Jon Gambrell, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2022 Zelenskyy has previously warned that negotiations could crumble if Russia continues to aggressively bombard civilians trapped inside Mariupol. — Caitlin Mcfall, Fox News, 22 Apr. 2022 The prisoners had to assemble the V2 rockets developed by Wernher von Braun, which were used to bombard London and Antwerp in 1944. — Jens Christian-wagner, CNN, 23 Mar. 2022 This steady feedback is not to bombard employees, but to demystify the promotion process. — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2022 As the Russian ground advance hit snags, its efforts to bombard Ukrainian cities appear to be intensifying. — Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bombard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for bombard

Noun

Middle English bombard, bumbard, borrowed from Middle French bombarde, probably from an onomatopoeic base bomb- + -arde -ard — more at bomb entry 1

Note: As with bomba, bombe, etc. (see note at bomb entry 1), the origin and diffusion of bombarda, bombarde, etc., remain incompletely elucidated. French bombarde, in reference to an engine of war, appears in the Vrayes chroniques of Jean le Bel, a history of the Hundred Years War begun in 1357 (see Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, online) and in the accounts of the Valenciennes city clerk Nicole de Dury from 1363 (see H. Caffiaux, Nicole de Dury, maître clerc de la ville de Valenciennes 1361-1373, Valenciennes, 1866, p. 103). Italian bombarda may be dependent on the French word, given that the earliest use of the word is in reference to artillery used at the battle of Crécy in 1346 (in the final book of the Nuova Cronica of Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348; manuscripts containing the final book are significantly later). The 1311 date given for bombarda in Trésor de la langue française, Cortelazzo and Zolli's Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, and a number of earlier sources from which they draw (as the Enciclopedia Italiana) is incorrect; the text in question, the Polystorio or Polyhistoria by Niccolò da Ferrara (not Bartolomeo da Ferrara), alludes to events of 1311 but was written sometime after 1367, when the chronicle ends, at the court of Niccolò II d'Este, marquess of Ferrara from 1361 (cf. Richard Tristano, "History 'Without Scruple': The Enlightenment Confronts the Middle Ages in Renaissance Ferrara," Medievalia et Humanistica, new series, no. 38 [2012], p. 85). Spanish lombarda, attested about 1400, is clearly a folk-etymologizing of bombarda (pace Coromines' etymology in Diccionario crítico-etimológico castellano e hispánico, which does not take account of the earlier French forms).