bombard

1 of 2

noun

bom·​bard ˈbäm-ˌbärd How to pronounce bombard (audio)
: a late medieval cannon used to hurl large stones

bombard

2 of 2

verb

bom·​bard bäm-ˈbärd How to pronounce bombard (audio)
 also  bəm-
bombarded; bombarding; bombards

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)
bombardment noun

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.

Choose the Right Synonym for bombard

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

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
Earth’s magnetic field wavered, and living things were bombarded by cosmic rays, confounding the navigational senses of turtles and porpoises, which beached themselves en masse. Zach St. George, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Spacecraft must deal with wild swings in temperature, depending on which parts of the vehicle are facing the sun, and they’re often bombarded with cosmic rays — irradiated particles streaming from the sun or deep space that can easily fry electronics that aren’t well protected. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 Your audience is comprised of people who are bombarded with facts and figures across their personal and professional lives. Adrian Dearnell, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 Perhaps our ability to tune out such heavy-handed imagery is a measure of how often we are bombarded with it. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2024 O'Neill argued that Israel was bombarding the Palestinian people and not defending themselves against the Hamas terrorists. Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 11 Feb. 2024 Then, on March 10, the Russians intended to bombard six Ukrainian cities, and had already entered coordinates into cruise missiles for those strikes. Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024 Parents are bombarded by the message that any failure on their part may mess their kids up for life. Alison Escalante, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 But there is clear agreement that people don’t want advertisers to bombard themselves or their families with manipulative ads. Aaron MacKey, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bombard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bombard was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near bombard

Cite this Entry

“Bombard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bombard. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bombard

verb
bom·​bard
bäm-ˈbärd,
 also  bəm-
1
: to attack especially with artillery or bombers
2
: to attack forcefully or continuously (as with questions)
3
: to put under the force of rapidly moving particles (as electrons or alpha rays)
bombardment
-mənt
noun

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