: a dam placed in a watercourse to increase the depth of water or to divert it into a channel for navigation or irrigation
1
military
: artillery fire laid on a line (see line entry 1 sense 6c) close to friendly troops to screen and protect them
The enemy laid down a barrage of machine-gun fire as our platoon approached the bridge.
2
: a vigorous or rapid outpouring or projection of many things at once
a barrage of phone calls
unleashed a barrage of insults
an oratorical barrage
barraged; barraging
: to deliver a barrage (see barrage entry 2) against
were barraged with bullets
being barraged by campaign ads before the election
Synonyms
Examples of barrage in a Sentence
Noun (2)
the teacher's rapid-fire barrage of homework assignments went by too fast for me to write them all down
Verb
the star athlete was barraged with requests for an autograph
Recent Examples on the Web
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Does Nasrallah think this is the moment to fire his one big barrage?
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Sep. 2024
Iran fired a huge barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Zahedi's killing.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2024
The clip, first posted to X by a fan on Sunday, received a barrage of backlash, as many viral drag videos do these days.
—James Factora, Them, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage 
Noun
Deadliest day in Lebanon since 1990 The barrage of airstrikes on Monday, which hit across Lebanon from its southern border with Israel to northern regions near Syria, was the most widespread Israeli attack on the country since last October.
—Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Does Nasrallah think this is the moment to fire his one big barrage?
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Sep. 2024
Iran fired a huge barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Zahedi's killing.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2024
The clip, first posted to X by a fan on Sunday, received a barrage of backlash, as many viral drag videos do these days.
—James Factora, Them, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barrage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near barrage
Cite this Entry
“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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