Bombard

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈbɒmˌbɑːd/

Definitions

1. To attack a place or target persistently with artillery or missiles ; to overwhelm someone with numerous questions, criticisms, or requests
2. To strike or shell continuously from a distance using heavy weapons ; to assail verbally by directing a rapid series of questions or objections
3. To repeatedly fire projectiles or explosives at an objective in order to cause damage ; to subject a person to a barrage of queries or complaints without pause

Etymology: The verb "bombard" descends from a noun for a gun. Medieval artillery pieces were called "bombardes", and the name came from Latin "bombus", meaning a buzzing or booming noise, so the weapon was named for the sound it made when it fired. The noun crossed into Middle English as "bombard", and it referred to a large cannon, a mortar, or even a catapult. The verb followed from the weapon. To bombard was originally to attack with bombards, bombarding a fortress from a distance. That sense of continuous, heavy shelling survives in modern military usage, while the figurative sense, to assail someone with a rapid series of questions or objections, grew out of it as a metaphor for a verbal barrage. The same noun also gave English a musical term. The bombard was a bassoon-like instrument, so one word for a gun and one for a woodwind share a boom-derived ancestor.

Synonyms: attack, assail, barrage

Antonyms: defend, protect