Cannonades

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A series of loud, forceful explosions resembling artillery fire, often used to describe an intense outburst of sound or criticism
2. Multiple, sudden bursts of gunfire or loud sounds, typically associated with artillery or metaphorically indicating verbal assaults
3. A collection of rapid, booming noises likening to the firing of large guns, symbolizing overwhelming force or intensity in communication or actions

Etymology: "Cannonades" is simply the plural of "cannonade", a noun for a heavy barrage of gunfire. The singular came into English from French, which had borrowed it from Italian "cannonata", a word built on "cannone", the big gun. French swapped the Italian suffix "-ata" for its own "-ade", a change that gave the word its familiar shape, and English took the French form. The core of the word is "cannon", which itself traces back to the Italian "cannone", an augmentative of "canna", meaning "tube" or "reed". The gun was named for its hollow barrel, so a cannonade is, at root, a bombardment by something that was once just a pipe. Only the plural ending on the English form marks the word as a count noun, meaning several separate volleys or bursts.

Synonyms: barrage, bombardment, salvo