onslaught

CEFRC1

/ˈɒn.slɔːt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A strong and sudden attack.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A large number of people or things resembling an attack.

Examples

  • Spain is reeling under the onslaught of the coronavirus.

  • The defenders checked the onslaught by the attackers.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈɔnsloːt/
  • /ˈɔnslɔt/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A fierce attack.

More examples

In context

  • They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.

  • The inevitable Baggies onslaught followed as substitute Simon Cox saw his strike excellently parried by keeper Bunn, with Cox heading the rebound down into the ground and agonisingly over the bar.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The enemy army launched a sudden and powerful blank of attacks, overwhelming the defenders.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From on- + slaught. Formed after Middle Dutch aenslag, aenslach, equivalent to aen + slag, although slaught corresponds to Middle Dutch slacht; slag is cognate with the English weaving term sley. Compare Dutch aanslag and German Anschlag.