bombard

noun

1. A medieval primitive cannon, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls.

   “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.”

2. (obsolete)A bassoon-like medieval musical instrument.
3. (obsolete)A large liquor container made of leather, in the form of a jug or a bottle.

   “[…] yond same black cloud, yond huge one, / looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor.”

4. (poetic, rare)A bombardment.

   “With mines and parallels contracts the space; Then bids the battering floats his labors crown And pour their bombard on the shuddering town”

5. A bombardon.

verb

1. To continuously attack something with bombs, artillery shells or other missiles or projectiles.

   “The enemy's stronghold was bombarded for 3 hours straight.”

2. (figuratively)To attack something or someone by directing objects at them.

   “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!”

3. (figuratively)To continuously send or direct (at someone)

   “I was bombarded with WhatsApp messages after appearing on the news.”

   “Please don't bombard me with questions right now, I'll answer them at the end of the statement.”

   “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.”

   “We're so bombarded with images, it's a struggle to preserve our imaginations.' In response, he's turned to cinema, commissioning 11 film-makers to contribute to a portmanteau film, entitled '11'09"01' and composed of short films each running 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame.”

4. To direct at a substance an intense stream of high-energy particles, usually sub-atomic or made of at most a few atoms.

name

1. A surname from French.