Meaning & use
bombard
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Meanings
verbtransitivemilitary
To attack a place with a heavy, continuous stream of shells, bombs or missiles.
Grammar: Takes an object: they bombarded the fort.
Patterns
- bombard a place
- bombard a place with something
Warships bombarded the harbor through the night.
The army bombarded the hill for three days before advancing.
Artillery bombarded the village until only ruins remained.
verbtransitivefigurative
To overwhelm someone with a large number of questions, messages or demands.
Grammar: Usually followed by with: bombard someone with something.
Patterns
- bombard someone with something
Reporters bombarded the mayor with questions.
I was bombarded with spam emails after signing up.
The shop's website bombards visitors with pop-up ads.
verbtransitivephysicstechnical
To hit a substance with a stream of fast-moving particles in order to cause a change.
Grammar: Technical use: bombard something with particles.
Patterns
- bombard something with something
Scientists bombarded the metal with neutrons.
The target was bombarded with electrons in the experiment.
Cosmic rays bombard the upper atmosphere constantly.
Word forms
| third person singular | bombards |
|---|---|
| past tense | bombarded |
| past participle | bombarded |
| -ing form | bombarding |
Common combinations
- bombard with questions
- The students bombarded the guest speaker with questions.
- bombard with messages
- Fans bombarded the singer with messages.
- bombard with advertising
- We are bombarded with advertising every day.
- bombard a city
- Aircraft bombarded the city overnight.
- bombard with information
- New employees are bombarded with information in the first week.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shell
- Shell is specific to artillery fire, whereas bombard can include bombs, missiles or non-military flooding.
- barrage
- Barrage as a verb is less common and emphasizes the density of an attack or flood of questions.
- inundate
- Inundate suggests being flooded by a huge quantity and rarely carries military force.
- pelt
- Pelt means to hit with many small objects such as stones or snowballs.
Word family
- bombardment noun
- a continuous attack or flood
- bombardier noun
- a crew member who aims and releases bombs
- bomb noun
- an explosive weapon
Commonly confused: bombard or bombast?
bombard vs bombast
Bombast is pompous, inflated speech; it looks similar to bombard but has nothing to do with attacking.
Practice
After the announcement, customers ___ the help desk with phone calls.
Choose one answer.
Bombarded with means overwhelmed with a large volume. Bombed would suggest physical attack.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bombard”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.