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

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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?

Verb

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, derived via Middle French and Middle English from the Latin noun bombus (a word referring to the same device). The verb "bombard" blasted onto the scene in English in 1686, 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: Noun The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 23 Nov. 2019 The current process bombards uranium enriched in a fissile isotope, 235U, with high-velocity neutrons from a reactor. — The Economist, "New ways to make molybdenum-99," 21 Nov. 2019 The nostalgia machine bombards fans with reboots, remakes, sequels, reunion specials, oral histories and on and on. — Julie Kliegman, Washington Post, "Mathew Klickstein has made a career out of nostalgia. Now he’s satirizing our yearning for the past.," 14 Aug. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The specialty donut shop, which offers unique flavor combinations such as Fruity Pebbles, Birthday Cake and S'mores, was bombarded with requests for a special Star Wars-themed donut following the show's release, store representatives said. — Rebecca Hennes, Houston Chronicle, "Hurts Donut Katy offering limited Star Wars 'Baby Yoda' donuts," 21 Jan. 2020 In the two days since the Scandies Rose sank, Boggs said she’s been bombarded by an outpouring of love and support from the commercial fishing industry. — Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, "'It happened really fast’: Coast Guard identifies 5 presumed dead after crab boat sinks on New Year’s Eve," 3 Jan. 2020 Today in a minute Lunar mystery: How much was the moon and, by proxy, Earth being bombarded by meteors in the early days of the solar system? — National Geographic, "What are the decade's biggest discoveries?," 25 Dec. 2019 Not surprisingly, Metz has been bombarded by fans asking these questions over the hiatus. — Dan Snierson, EW.com, "This Is Us star Chrissy Metz on Kate’s fate in the future: 'She’s probably at the dry cleaners'," 20 Sep. 2019 The planet is constantly bombarded by stuff from space, including a daily deluge of micrometeorites and a shower of radiation from the sun and more-distant stars. — Quanta Magazine, "How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals," 15 Jan. 2019 On a recent trip to Girona, in the Catalonia region of Spain, I was bombarded with signs and symbols related to the community’s independence campaign. — Washington Post, "Eight ways travelers can fight ‘the Airbnb effect’ on local housing costs," 23 Jan. 2020 But from late November until the last gasp at the end of December, we all are bombarded with richness and excess at every turn. — David Tanis, New York Times, "A January Dinner Party That Doesn’t Deprive," 3 Jan. 2020 The police had spent the day bombarding a house that was empty except for Ms. West’s dog, Blue. — Robert Mcnamara, WSJ, "Tear-Gas Grenades and ‘Qualified Immunity’," 15 Jan. 2020

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).