: 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
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024
The four were among seven people killed Thursday in a series of barrages fired at Israel from Lebanon.
—Wafaa Shurafa and Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
WIRED, 9 Oct. 2024
These scientists are losing funding, watching their research centers close down, and getting barraged with subpoenas.
—F.d. Flam, The Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Tensions between Israel and Iran remain at a boiling point, more than a week after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes into Iranian territory, the latest in a chain of retaliatory attacks after Iran fired a barrage of around 200 missiles at Israel in early October.
—Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024
The four were among seven people killed Thursday in a series of barrages fired at Israel from Lebanon.
—Wafaa Shurafa and Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
Verb
Stretch, toss, turn, or sit up, and the alarm clock will barrage you with coin pickup sound effects from Super Mario Odyssey, or splat sounds from Splatoon 3.
—WIRED, 9 Oct. 2024
These scientists are losing funding, watching their research centers close down, and getting barraged with subpoenas.
—F.d. Flam, The Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage
Dictionary Entries Near barrage
Cite this Entry
“Barrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrage. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share