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

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 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

After the Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page earlier this month to ask for books for the jail library, McCutcheon was bombarded with thousands of donations from across the country. — Robin Goist, cleveland.com, "Summit Council jail doubles inmate services, increases staff as recommended by commission," 30 Aug. 2019 Without the magnetic protection, particles from space called cosmic rays relentlessly bombard the moon’s surface and produce gamma radiation, some of which escapes. — Kelso Harper, Scientific American, "Flashing Neurons, Invisible Moonlight and Adorable Squid Babies: The Week’s Best Science GIFs," 23 Aug. 2019 Why do universities bombard prospects with the constant pressure to start an application? — Katerina Manoff, The Atlantic, "How They (Online Graduate Programs) Get You," 14 Aug. 2019 The education aspect should bombard students with details about the terrifying risks of nicotine addiction as well as resources on combating it on an individual level. — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, "Letter: Campbell high schools not doing enough about vaping," 4 Aug. 2019 Meanwhile, insurance and pharmaceutical companies — likely joined by doctors and hospitals — will be bombarding the airwaves with ads warning darkly of systemic degradation in the quality of the health care system. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Democrats are skipping the most important health care debate," 2 Aug. 2019 Citizens in Rouen, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nîmes, Nantes, and Nice bombarded cops with hammers, ball bearings, rocks, and cobblestones torn from the streets. — Christopher Ketcham, Harper's magazine, "A Play with No End," 22 July 2019 And nowadays, summer lifeguards at 30 towers are bombarded with calls for rescue, medical aid and enforcement from Memorial Day to Labor Day. — Faith E. Pinho, latimes.com, "Laguna Beach’s lifeguards celebrate 90 years of rescues," 11 June 2019 Comics enhance visual literacy Children are bombarded with images, advertisements and screen time on a daily basis. — Los Angeles Times, "The case for comic books," 16 Aug. 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).

Verb

earlier, "to fire a large cannon," borrowed from Middle French bombarder, verbal derivative of bombarde bombard entry 1

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More Definitions for bombard

bombard

verb

English Language Learners Definition of bombard

: to attack (a place) with bombs, large guns, etc.

: to hit or attack (something or someone) constantly or repeatedly

See the full definition for bombard in the English Language Learners Dictionary

bombard

verb

bom·bard

bombard

Definition of bombard

Other Words from bombard

Synonyms for bombard

Choose the Right Synonym for bombard

Did You Know?

Examples of bombard in a Sentence

First Known Use of bombard

History and Etymology for bombard

English Language Learners Definition of bombard

bombard

Definition of bombard

Other Words from bombard

Synonyms for bombard

Choose the Right Synonym for bombard

Did You Know?

Examples of bombard in a Sentence

First Known Use of bombard

History and Etymology for bombard

English Language Learners Definition of bombard

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