Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession.
  • noun A rapid outburst or barrage.
  • transitive verb To attack with a fusillade.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To attack or shoot down by a fusillade.
  • noun A simultaneous or continuous discharge of musketry: sometimes used figuratively.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Mil.) A simultaneous discharge of firearms.
  • transitive verb To shoot down of shoot at by a simultaneous discharge of firearms.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the simultaneous firing of a number of firearms
  • noun by extension a rapid outburst
  • verb to fire, or attack with, a fusillade

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb attack with fusillade
  • noun rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from fusiller, to shoot, from fusil, firearm; see fusil.]

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Examples

  • Then, from lower down to the right, there came a fusillade from the English lines suddenly breaking out, and after a few minutes as suddenly stopping again.

    Michael 1903

  • But the only casualty of the fusillade was a little white goat who happened to be standing idly by, just in the wrong spot.

    The Lonesome Dove Series Larry McMurtry 1995

  • But the only casualty of the fusillade was a little white goat who happened to be standing idly by, just in the wrong spot.

    Streets of Laredo Larry McMurtry 1993

  • In their body language and their rulings, the justices often make it clear that they are happier when the target of their fusillade is a familiar face.

    Latest Articles 2009

  • The last words of the speaker were nearly drowned in a heavy fusillade which issued from the woods close by.

    Mohun, or, the Last Days of Lee John Esten Cooke 1858

  • PARIS— Boeing Co. continues to study the future of its best-selling, 737 single-aisle airplane as European rival Airbus prepares to announce at this week's Paris Air Show a fusillade of orders for a revamped version of its competing A320 jet.

    Boeing Continues to Assess 737 Redesign Peter Sanders 2011

  • Pakistani Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the Army chief of staff, prefers the training to the fusillade of missile strikes in the tribal areas from pilotless U.S. drones.

    Each One Teach One | ATTACKERMAN 2009

  • To his amazement, the target opens his eyes after the fusillade and discovers he is still alive.

    First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

  • The fusillade of 7.62mm rounds chewed the three jihadis to pieces.

    Gideon’s war Howard Gordon 2011

  • All it took was one open-ended question about Android to unleash a fusillade of anti-Google invective.

    In the Plex Steven Levy 2011

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