barrage

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: bar=rage

CIDE DICTIONARY

barrage, n. [F., fr. barrer to bar, from barre bar.].

 An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or watercourse to increase the depth of water; as, the barrages of the Nile.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

barrage, n.
1 a concentrated artillery bombardment over a wide area.
2 a rapid succession of questions or criticisms.
3 an artificial barrier, esp. in a river.
4 a heat or deciding event in fencing, show jumping, etc.

Idiom

barrage balloon a large anchored balloon, often with netting suspended from it, used (usu. as one of a series) as a defence against low-flying aircraft.

Etymology

F f. barrer (as BAR(1))

THESAURUS

barrage

aim at, antiaircraft barrage, arch dam, backstop, bamboo curtain, bank, bar, barrier, bear-trap dam, beat, beating, beaver dam, blast, blitz, bombard, bombardment, boom, box barrage, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, broadside, buffer, bulkhead, bulwark, burst, cannon, cannonade, cannonry, cofferdam, commence firing, creeping barrage, dam, defense, dike, ditch, drum, drum music, drumbeat, drumfire, drumming, earthwork, embankment, emergency barrage, enfilade, eruption, fence, fire a volley, fire at, fire upon, flare, flutter, fusillade, gate, gravity dam, groin, hail, hydraulic-fill dam, iron curtain, jam, jetty, leaping weir, levee, logjam, milldam, moat, mole, mortar, mortar barrage, mound, normal barrage, open fire, open up on, outburst, palpitation, paradiddle, parapet, patter, pepper, pitapat, pitter-patter, pop at, portcullis, pound, pounding, pulsation, rake, rampart, rat-a-tat, rat-tat, rat-tat-tat, rataplan, rattattoo, roadblock, rock-fill dam, roll, rub-a-dub, ruff, ruffle, salvo, seawall, shell, shoot, shoot at, shower, shutter dam, snipe, snipe at, spatter, splutter, spray, sputter, staccato, standing barrage, stone wall, storm, strafe, stream, surge, take aim at, tat-tat, tattoo, throb, throbbing, thrum, thumping, tom-tom, tornado, torpedo, volley, wall, weir, wicket dam, work, zero in on