air raid

noun

Definition of air raidnext
as in attempt
an attack in which a place is bombed by military airplanes Much of the city was destroyed in an air raid.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of air raid The attacks and the air raid alerts that accompany them have severely disrupted life in the city, forcing millions to constantly seek shelter and paralyzing the capital’s businesses and transport networks. — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026 On August 27, Kyiv registered a record 13 air raid alerts in a single day. — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026 Mary Josephine Booth was familiar with the sound of the air raid sirens by then. — April White, JSTOR Daily, 23 Sep. 2026 Any time an air raid alert sounded, events were suspended immediately as guests, designers, and teams took shelter. — Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for air raid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for air raid
  1. attempt
  2. ambush
  3. assault
  4. onslaught
  5. offensive
  6. bombing
  7. invasion
Noun
  • These symptoms may reflect the brain’s attempts to integrate and learn from what happened.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • While traveling with then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981, White House press secretary James Brady was shot during an assassination attempt on the president.
    — Chandelis Duster, NPR, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of attempt
Noun
  • The soldiers, aviation technicians with the Salvandoran army, were victims of a gang ambush on Sunday in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, east of Port-au-Prince, while on their way back to camp after visiting a local supermarket.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Using that information to inform computer models, the scientists found that mosasaurs were skilled ambush predators built for a quick sneak attack.
    — October 16, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambush
Noun
  • Lula seized on these acts as meddling in the campaign, and as an assault on Brazilian sovereignty encouraged by the Bolsonaro family.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026
  • All this was happening with a coincident and successful assault of affirmative action in higher education.
    — Kamau Bobb October 21, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of assault
Noun
  • Organisms not resistant to this onslaught—anything from microbes and crops to whales and humans—would experience an almost violently severe sunburn.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon and independent progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders countered the recent onslaught of campaign advertisements against her in a double-header rally in Gainesville Sunday.
    — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of onslaught
Noun
  • Ukrainian officials say that the offensive has disrupted Russia’s assault on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, key Ukrainian strongholds in the Donbas region.
    — Anastasiia Parafeniuk, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Advertisement Leaders contemplating an October surprise or an offensive after the midterms must remember that uncomfortable truth.
    — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of offensive
Noun
  • Brooke has written about her older brother Henry, who died by suicide decades prior following his involvement in a cult bombing which left a man dead.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Ukraine bombing oil facilities in Russia and more tankers coming under attack in the Persian Gulf have clouded the supply outlook.
    — Lee Ying Shan,Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of bombing
Noun
  • After Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Germany, which in 2021 had imported more than half of its gas from Russia, initially opposed an embargo on Russian oil and gas before reversing course in May of that year.
    — Claas Mertens, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The prospect of a Chinese invasion has long loomed over Taiwan’s horizon.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of invasion

Browse Nearby Words

air rage
air raid
air raids
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Air raid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/air%20raid. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of disparate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All