bombing 1 of 2

noun

as in bombardment

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

bombing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bomb
1
as in flooding
to attack with a rapid or overwhelming outpouring of many things at once following the reporter's obscene outburst, viewers bombed the television station with an unprecedented number of complaints

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in flying
slang to proceed or move quickly skiers bombing down the slope vied for the coveted gold medal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in collapsing
to be unsuccessful the chichi restaurant bombed big-time, lasting only six months

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in burying
to defeat by a large margin it's no surprise that the inexperienced baseball team got totally bombed in its first game

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in attacking
to use bombs or artillery against the enemy has bombed the city again

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bombing
Noun
Brooke has written about her older brother Henry, who died by suicide decades prior following his involvement in a cult bombing which left a man dead. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026 Ukraine bombing oil facilities in Russia and more tankers coming under attack in the Persian Gulf have clouded the supply outlook. — Lee Ying Shan,spencer Kimball, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026 That bombing was one of two by the United States in August 1945 in the final days of World War II. — Dennis Valera, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 On July 13, the Saudi military’s subsequent bombing of the Sanaa runway, as the incoming aircraft from Tehran approached, provided the movement an opportunity to reignite its confrontation with Riyadh. — Laurent Bonnefoy, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026 The second Ukrainian man arrested in connection with the bombing, Volodymyr Zhuravlov, was detained in August in Croatia, where a court has approved his extradition to Germany, Reuters reported last month. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026 The relentless bombing continued through the summer and into the second anniversary of October 7, when a ceasefire was finally agreed and announced by President Trump the following day. — Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026 Yet there are few examples in history of adversaries conceding to maximalist demands in the face of punitive bombing campaigns alone—even by the world’s greatest air force. — Justin Bronk, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026 Yemen’s government last week launched an offensive to retake the areas under Houthi control, backed by a fresh Saudi bombing campaign. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Verb
Russia has been bombing Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, forcing Ukraine to rely increasingly on river ports on the Danube and shipping routes close to the coasts of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania. — Reuters, NBC news, 13 Oct. 2026 The United States began bombing Iran on February 28 with the goal of destroying the country’s nuclear program, its missile program, and even its government, only to fail spectacularly at each objective. — Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026 Ukraine has been systematically bombing some of those refineries, severely curtailing the global supply of diesel fuel. — Brian Sullivan, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026 The person in the White House has asked Ukraine to stop bombing Russian refineries and oil/gas/diesel facilities. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026 Interviewees describe hacking little girls’ phones to see when their fathers came home and then bombing their houses, listening while the people on the line screamed and pleaded for help, while mothers cried over their burning daughters. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026 In 1991, during the Gulf War, America and its allies began bombing Baghdad in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. — David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026 Authorities have deployed more than 50 aircraft for both cloud-seeding — the attempt to artificially simulate rain — and water-bombing operations, according to Reuters. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026 The status of its nuclear program, degraded by bombing strikes in 2025, hasn't changed. — Susan Page, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bombing
  1. bombardment
  2. flooding
  3. flying
  4. collapsing
  5. burying
  6. attacking
  7. assault
  8. bombarding
Noun
  • Russia’s heavy bombardment of the power grid before winter sets in has been an annual feature of the war, aiming to wear down Ukraine’s appetite for the fight by denying civilians heating and running water.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The two-day stoppage of early warnings raised alarm bells in Ukraine, where Russia has been increasing bombardments of power plants and, that night, hit a nine-story building in Kyiv and other civilian sites, killing five people.
    — Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of bombardment
Verb
  • In the brain, for example, elevated stress hormones can impair learning and memory by flooding the hippocampus with excitatory chemical signals.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • By holding water on the land, these peatlands not only reduce the risk of flooding downstream, but also buffer the landscape against drought, keeping soils moist and supporting nearby forests through dry spells.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of flooding
Verb
  • Almost all of the birds on Palmyra Atoll rely on the ocean, flying out to sea daily to feed on fish or squid, bringing some back for their young.
    — Lauren Sommer, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Six Flags Great Adventure via Facebook While riding Nitro, riders can see the Philadelphia skyline for a glimpse before flying down a 215-foot drop.
    — Nikki DeMentri, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of flying
Verb
  • His message delivery is no more successful than Todd’s, and now the entire conference is in danger of collapsing.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The wounded man fled across the parking lot before collapsing near Seminary Drive, where responding officers attempted lifesaving measures.
    — Giles Hudson, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of collapsing
Verb
  • The Florida woman accused of killing her boyfriend and burying him in a shallow grave was found guilty of his murder.
    — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The limits of burying the bad news Each of these interventions, whether reckless, self-destructive trade barriers, massive military invasions, or offensive divisive speeches, soaks up attention.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of burying
Verb
  • Researchers constructed a hollow fiber membrane lined on the outside with palladium nanoparticles rather than attacking PFAS in open water.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are seeking the public’s help finding a woman accused of attacking a North Lauderdale store clerk with pepper spray earlier this month.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacking
Noun
  • Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time of the October 2018 assault.
    — MEG KINNARD, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
  • On Tuesday, the DA’s Office charged Gonzalez with assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, elder abuse, vandalism and battery.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of assault
Verb
  • The group filed an ethics complaint against the Victory Green PAC, which supports the arena, accusing the group of bombarding residents with campaign text messages.
    — Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Diesel prices are high around the world because Ukraine is bombarding Russian refineries and strikes by Iran and its allies have taken capacity offline in the Middle East.
    — Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of bombarding

Browse Nearby Words

bombers
bombing
bombings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bombing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bombing. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All