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PlainSpell

bombard

/ˈbɑmˌbɑɹd/noun, verb

bombard is spelled B-O-M-B-A-R-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,832nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bombard means “A medieval primitive cannon, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bombard is bombards.

How many letters and syllables are in bombard?

Letters7: B-O-M-B-A-R-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 39,832nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bombard?

Bombard appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,832nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bombard?

  • UK /ˈbɒmˌbɑːd/
  • US /ˈbɑmˌbɑɹd/

As a verb (“To continuously attack something with bombs, artillery…”): /ˌbɒmˈbɑːd/, /ˌbɑmˈbɑɹd/, /bəmˈbɑɹd/.

Bombard has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bombard.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with bombard?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bombard from its last stressed vowel (/ɑmbɑɹd/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of bombard

  • bombards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • bombarding participle, present
  • bombarded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bombard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

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

  2. 2

    obsoleteA bassoon-like medieval musical instrument.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA large liquor container made of leather, in the form of a jug or a bottle.

  4. 4

    rareA bombardment.

  5. 5

    A bombardon.

verb

  1. 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. 2

    To attack something or someone by directing objects at them.

  3. 3

    To continuously send or direct (at someone)

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

  4. 4

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bombard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbombarde (medieval primitive cannon), bombarder (to attack something or someone by directing…)
GermanBombarde, Donnerbüchse, Steinbüchse, Kartaune (medieval primitive cannon), bombardieren (to attack something or someone by directing…)
Portuguesebombarda (medieval primitive cannon), bombardear (to attack something or someone by directing…)
Spanishbombarda (medieval primitive cannon), bombardear (to attack something or someone by directing…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bombard come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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