bombard

noun

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

So much heat and ultraviolet radiation bombards the planet's daytime side that molecules like methane cannot form—elements on that half of the world exist in atomic form. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Researchers Discover a Planet That’s As Hot As a Star," 6 June 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Campaigns have bombarded donors in the last week ahead of the end-of-quarter deadline on Sunday. — Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, "Clash of the Texans: Julián Castro's breakout leaves Beto O'Rourke to do some homework," 30 June 2019 Gainax’s office and email inboxes were bombarded with graffiti and emails, including death threats. — Gene Park, Washington Post, "‘Evangelion’ is finally on Netflix. I don’t need a rewatch, because the trauma lives on in me.," 25 June 2019 To drive transitions, the atom is bombarded with photons that allow it to transition from the ground state to the bright or dark state. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Following Schrödinger’s cat to its death and giving it a reprieve," 5 June 2019 In the weeks since winning the Indianapolis 500, Simon Pagenaud has been bombarded with thousands of questions about his historic achievement. — Jim Ayello, Indianapolis Star, "Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud: White House visit was honor he couldn't refuse," 26 May 2019 About 60 people bombarded the committee with testimony last Wednesday for nearly eight hours, from 3:30 to 11:30 p.m., with both complaints and support of takeover efforts. — Patrick O'donnell, cleveland.com, "Debate on state “takeover” of schools bumped to next week," 5 June 2019 Every election cycle, Washington voters get bombarded with advertisements, like mailers, from political action committees (PAC). — Joseph O’sullivan, The Seattle Times, "‘Gray money’: New Washington law to lift the cloak on PAC funders," 19 May 2019 Scottish columnists bombarded the Spanish government with reproaches. — Neal Ascherson, The New York Review of Books, "The Value of Independence," 18 Apr. 2019 On the airless moon, though, these meteor showers bombard the surface. — Shannon Stirone, National Geographic, "The moon releases surprising amounts of water during meteor showers," 15 Apr. 2019

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).