: 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
Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2024
Min has faced a barrage of attacks related to his DUI arrest last year and last month had his campaign signs defaced with anti-Asian slurs.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Gregory Wakeman, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2024
During a podcast interview released two days before Payne’s fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday, Henry said the troubled 31-year-old British singer would barrage her and her family with worrying calls and messages.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for barrage 
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Noun
More like a real treat this week, because there’s actually a whole barrage of movies and television to tune into, finally.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2024
Min has faced a barrage of attacks related to his DUI arrest last year and last month had his campaign signs defaced with anti-Asian slurs.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
The Germans launched attacks on Bath, York and Exeter in April 1942; a smaller-scale aerial campaign known as the Baby Blitz barraged Britain between January and May 1944.
—Gregory Wakeman, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2024
During a podcast interview released two days before Payne’s fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday, Henry said the troubled 31-year-old British singer would barrage her and her family with worrying calls and messages.
—Martha Ross, 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 2 Dec. 2024.
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