Word of the Day ·
onslaught
on·slaught
UK/ˈɒn.slɔːt/Australia, British, Southern, Standard/ˈɔnsloːt/Northern US, US/ˈɑn.slɔt/US/ˈɔn.slɔt/
noun
What it means
- broadlyA large number of people or things resembling an attack.
They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.
1 more example
The inevitable Baggies onslaught followed as substitute Simon Cox saw his strike excellently parried by keeper Bunn, with Cox heading the rebound down into the ground and agonisingly over the bar.
2010 December 28, Kevin Darling, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC
In a sentence
They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.
Where it comes from
- Middle Dutchaenslag
- Englishonslaught
From on- + slaught. Formed after Middle Dutch aenslag, aenslach, equivalent to aen + slag, although slaught corresponds to Middle Dutch slacht; slag is cognate with the English weaving term sley. Compare Dutch aanslag and German Anschlag.
Subscribe with RSS.