Bombard Meaning
/ˈbɒmˌbɑːd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA medieval primitive cannon, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls.
nounA bassoon-like medieval musical instrument.
Sentence Examples
The teacher began to bombard me with questions.
Cyber experts say hundreds of thousands of viruses and malware bombard personal computers every day.
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the meeting, reporters will ____ the politician with tough questions about taxes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The enemy began to ____ the city walls with heavy artillery tonight.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English bombard, from Middle French bombarde (“a bombard, mortar, catapult"; also "a bassoon-like musical instrument”), from Latin bombus (“buzzing; booming”). The modern pronunciation is from modern French bombarde.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"They planted in divers places twelve great bombards, wherewith they threw huge stones into the air, which, falling down into the city, might break down the houses."
— 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
"[…] yond same black cloud, yond huge one, / looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor."
— 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
"With mines and parallels contracts the space;
Then bids the battering floats his labors crown
And pour their bombard on the shuddering town"
— 1807, Joel Barlow, The Columbiad:
"My correspondent, who was riding in the first coach, comments that the small standard tender did not take kindly to this gay progress, and signified its disapproval from time to time by bombarding the train with lumps of coal!"
— 1954 July, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 488:
"At this point she remembered, sitting there, surrounded by heavy breathing, the constellations flashing, cosmic rays bombarding marvelsome complex coils on the lecturer's dials, that she had forgotten to turn out the gas under the beets."
— 1945, Morton Thompson, Joe, the Wounded Tennis Player, page 88:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the meeting, reporters will ____ the politician with tough questions about taxes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The enemy began to ____ the city walls with heavy artillery tonight.