Meaning & use
bombardment
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablemilitary
A long attack in which many shells, bombs or missiles are fired at a place.
Grammar: A bombardment is one attack; bombardment alone describes the activity.
Patterns
- the bombardment of something
- under bombardment
The town endured a three-day bombardment from the hills.
Heavy bombardment destroyed the old fort.
The residents sheltered in cellars during the bombardment.
nouncountable or uncountablefigurative
A flood of questions, messages, criticisms or images sent at someone without a break.
Grammar: Often followed by of or from: a bombardment of emails.
Patterns
- a bombardment of something
- bombardment from someone
She faced a bombardment of questions from reporters.
The bombardment of advertisements made the app unbearable.
He ignored the constant bombardment of notifications.
noununcountablephysicstechnical
In physics, the striking of a material with fast-moving particles such as electrons or neutrons.
Grammar: Used with of: bombardment of atoms with neutrons.
Patterns
- bombardment of something with something
Scientists studied the bombardment of the metal with neutrons.
Cosmic ray bombardment affects satellites.
Word forms
| plural | bombardments |
|---|
Common combinations
- heavy bombardment
- The city suffered heavy bombardment.
- aerial bombardment
- Aerial bombardment damaged the harbor.
- constant bombardment
- Constant bombardment of news left her exhausted.
- under bombardment
- The village was under bombardment all night.
- a bombardment of questions
- The speaker faced a bombardment of questions.
- artillery bombardment
- The artillery bombardment began at dawn.
Synonyms and how they differ
- barrage
- Barrage is a rapid, concentrated burst of fire or words, and is often shorter than a bombardment.
- shelling
- Shelling is specific to firing shells, whereas bombardment can include bombs and missiles.
- onslaught
- Onslaught means a fierce attack and is often more figurative than bombardment.
- deluge
- Deluge pictures a flood and is used for overwhelming amounts of messages or requests.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: bombardment or bombast?
bombardment vs bombast
Bombast means pompous, inflated speech and has nothing to do with attacks.
Practice
After the new policy was announced, the manager faced a ___ of angry emails.
Choose one answer.
A bombardment of emails means a heavy, continuous flood of them. Bombast means pompous talk, and does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bombardment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.