BOMBARD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bombard mean? 

• BOMBARD (noun)
  The noun BOMBARD has 1 sense:

1. a large shawm; the bass member of the shawm family

  Familiarity information: BOMBARD used as a noun is very rare.

• BOMBARD (verb)
  The verb BOMBARD has 4 senses:

1. cast, hurl, or throw repeatedly with some missile

2. throw bombs at or attack with bombs

3. address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage

4. direct high energy particles or radiation against

  Familiarity information: BOMBARD used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOMBARD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A large shawm; the bass member of the shawm family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bombard; bombardon

Hypernyms ("bombard" is a kind of...):

shawm (a medieval oboe)

bass (the member with the lowest range of a family of musical instruments)

• BOMBARD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bombard    ... he / she / it bombards   
Past simple: bombarded   
Past participle: bombarded   
-ing form: bombarding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cast, hurl, or throw repeatedly with some missile

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bombard; pelt

Context example:

They pelted each other with snowballs

Hypernyms (to "bombard" is one way to...):

throw (propel through the air)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bombard"):

lapidate (throw stones at)

snowball (throw snowballs at)

egg (throw eggs at)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Throw bombs at or attack with bombs

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

bomb; bombard

Context example:

The Americans bombed Dresden

Hypernyms (to "bombard" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bombard"):

carpet bomb (bomb a large area systematically and extensively)

bomb out (make somebody homeless by destroying their houses with bombs)

dive-bomb (bomb from a diving airplane)

glide-bomb (bomb by gliding)

skip-bomb (attack with delayed release bombs)

atom-bomb; nuke (bomb with atomic weapons)

hydrogen-bomb (attack with a hydrogen bomb)

pattern-bomb (bomb in certain patterns)

atomise; atomize; nuke; zap (strike at with firepower or bombs)

letter bomb (send an explosive to)

firebomb (attack with incendiary bombs)

blast; shell (use explosives on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bombardment (an attack by dropping bombs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

barrage; bombard

Context example:

The governor was bombarded with requests to grant a pardon to the convicted killer

Hypernyms (to "bombard" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; lash out; round; snipe (attack in speech or writing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

barrage; bombardment (the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Direct high energy particles or radiation against

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "bombard" is one way to...):

irradiate; ray (expose to radiation)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Yet I will not deny that at the intaking of a town it is well to have good store of bombards.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Rapid neutron capture only occurs naturally in extreme environments where atoms are bombarded by vast numbers of neutrons.

(First identification of a heavy element born from neutron star collision, ESO)

The amount of water suggests that the planet actually developed far away from the star, where it was bombarded by a lot of icy material.

(NASA Finds a Large Amount of Water in an Exoplanet's Atmosphere, NASA)

Meanwhile, JPL scientist Kevin Hand had used sample ocean salts, bombarded by radiation in a laboratory under Europa-like conditions, and found that several new and distinct features arose in sodium chloride after irradiation.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

When interstellar dust and gas are bombarded with ultraviolet light from hot young stars, the energy causes them to shine brilliantly.

(Stellar Nursery Blooms into View, ESO)

The earliest evidence for life on Earth is of fossilized bacteria that are between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years old - a time when the solar system was being bombarded by meteorites.

(Life Could Exist on Moon 4 Billion Years Ago, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Their results suggest that these compounds were also present on early Earth, before life began, during a period of time when Earth was constantly bombarded by meteorites and the atmosphere was likely more hydrogen-rich.

(Cyanide Compounds Discovered in Meteorites May Hold Clues to the Origin of Life, NASA)

The tent, illumined by a candle, glowed warmly in the midst of the white plain; and when he, as a matter of course, entered it, both Perrault and François bombarded him with curses and cooking utensils, till he recovered from his consternation and fled ignominiously into the outer cold.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The weather was less keen upon the Wednesday, and the rear-guard made good their passage, with the bombards and the wagon-train.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

See yonder, he added, pointing to a bombard which lay within the camp: there is what hath done scath to good bowmanship, with its filthy soot and foolish roaring mouth.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)