Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of barring; specifically, the formation of an artificial obstruction in a watercourse, in order to increase the depth of the water, to facilitate irrigation, and for other purposes.
  • noun The artificial bar thus formed; especially, one of those on the river Nile in Egypt.
  • noun In playing instruments like the guitar, the application of the finger of the left hand across all or some of the strings near the nut, so as to shorten them uniformly and thus raise their pitch; a temporary nut. (See nut, 3. and capo tasto.) When the finger stops part of the strings the barrage is little; if all, great or grand.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Engin.) An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or watercourse to increase the depth of water.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an artificial obstruction, such as a dam, in a river designed to increase its depth or to divert its flow
  • noun a heavy curtain of artillery fire directed in front of one's own troops to screen and protect them (Wikipedia)
  • noun a concentrated discharge of projectile weapons
  • noun by extension an overwhelming outburst of words, especially of criticism
  • noun fencing A "next hit wins" contest to determine the winner of a bout in case of a tie.
  • verb transitive to direct a barrage at; to bombard

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written)
  • verb address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage
  • noun the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French barrage

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Examples

  • The Bush campaign wanted to wait until the Democratic nominee was settled on, but because of what they call a barrage of negative attacks against the president, and his poll numbers certainly are sliding, they decided to step up the timing of this just a big - Anderson?

    CNN Transcript Feb 29, 2004 2004

  • The Bush campaign wanted to wait until the Democratic nominee was settled on, but because of what they call a barrage of negative attacks against the president, and his poll numbers certainly are sliding, they decided to step up the timing of this just a big - Anderson?

    CNN Transcript Feb 23, 2004 2004

  • Gingrich yesterday renewed his criticism of what he described as a barrage of negative ads run against him, accusing Wall Street and Goldman Sachs of financing the attacks.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2012

  • Joe Hockey defends Coalition costings OPPOSITION Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey is defending the Coalition's policy costings from what he calls a barrage of "hysterical allegations" from

    AustralianIT.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • Sherdeill Breathett attributes part of the problem to what he calls a barrage of negative images on TV and in music videos.

    KWCH - KWCH.com RSS 2010

  • Joe Hockey defends Coalition costings OPPOSITION Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey is defending the Coalition's policy costings from what he calls a barrage of "hysterical allegations" from

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • For a party under constant barrage from the left, the Harper party are shell-shocked.

    2008 June 17 « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008

  • For a party under constant barrage from the left, the Harper party are shell-shocked.

    Worth Repeating: Harper’s Permanent Campaign « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008

  • Rachel calmly smiles and waits until the barrage is over.

    A Haven of Peace 2006

  • You see shelling implies a long term barrage, use of large cannons and actually hitting a target or two.

    Whose side is the AP on 2005

Comments

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  • Every time I hear this I think of the British officer in Stan Freberg's "The United States of America": "HELLo, they've begun their BARRage..."

    November 20, 2008

  • I haven't watched porn in 3 days because Peterson recommended it. Visions of sexual acts barrage my conscience

    January 15, 2018