bombard

Etymology 1

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.

noun

1. a medieval primitive cannon, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls.
2. (obsolete) a bassoon-like medieval instrument
3. (obsolete) a large liquor container made of leather, in the form of a jug or a bottle.
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 1807, Joel Barlow, The Columbiad
5. (music) A bombardon.

Etymology 2

From French bombarder, from Middle French bombarde (“a bombard”).

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. (figurative) To attack something or someone by directing objects at them.
3. (figurative) 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.
4. (physics) To direct at a substance an intense stream of high-energy particles, usually sub-atomic or made of at most a few atoms.