air raid

noun

An attack on a surface target by aircraft.

Similar
air attack

Meanings

nounair raid (plural air raids)

plural air raids

  1. An attack on a surface target by aircraft.

    The L.N.E.R. locomotive damaged beyond repair in the air raid on York, on April 29, 1942, was No. 4469, Sir Ralph Wedgewood, a class "A 4" Pacific.

    1946 November and December, “The Why and The Wherefore: Destruction of Locomotive No. 4469, L.N.E.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 391
    2 more examples

    Air raids on London, which first began on an intensive scale on September 7, occasioned a certain amount of disorganisation to transport services of all kinds.

    1940 December, “Railways and the War—III”, in Railway Magazine, pages 629–630

    1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave. There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.

  2. American footballA passing-heavy offensive scheme based on a shotgun formation with four wide receivers and a single running back.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan attack by armed planes on a surface target

Similar
air attack

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 空袭, 轰炸
  • 空袭 (kōngxí)attack
  • 轰炸 (hōngzhà)attack
Czech nálet
  • náletattack
Danish luftangreb
  • luftangrebattack
Dutch luchtaanval
  • luchtaanvalattack
Finnish ilmahyökkäys
  • ilmahyökkäysattack
French raid aérien
  • raid aérienattack
German Luftangriff, Luftschlag
  • Luftangriffattack
  • Luftschlagattack
Greek αεροπορική επιδρομή
  • αεροπορική επιδρομή (aeroporikí epidromí)attack
Hungarian légitámadás
  • légitámadásattack
Irish aer-ruathar
  • aer-ruatharattack
Italian incursione aerea
  • incursione aereaattack
Japanese 空襲
  • 空襲 (kūshū)attack
Korean 공습
  • 공습 (gongseup)attack
Norwegian Bokmål luftangrep
  • luftangrepattack
Polish nalot, atak powietrzny
  • nalotattack
  • atak powietrznyattack
Romanian raid aerian
  • raid aerianattack
Russian возду́шный налёт, авианалёт
  • возду́шный налёт (vozdúšnyj naljót)attack
  • авианалёт (avianaljót)attack
  • бомбёжка (bombjóžka)attack
  • авиауда́р (aviaudár)attack
Swedish luftangrepp
  • luftangreppattack
Turkish hava saldırısı
  • hava saldırısıattack
Ukrainian пові́тряний налі́т, авіауда́р
  • пові́тряний налі́т (povítrjanyj nalít)attack
  • авіауда́р (aviaudár)attack
  • авіаналі́т (avianalít)attack
Cite this entry
APA

air raid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20raid

MLA

“air raid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20raid. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “air raid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/air%20raid.

Source: air raid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.