carpet bombingn.
/ˈkɑːpɪt ˌbɒmɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkɑrpət ˌbɑmɪŋ/ 1. Military. The dropping of a large concentration of bombs to cause extensive and widespread damage to an area. Cf. carpet-bomb v.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > [noun] > air operation > bombing raid > dropping of bombs > manner of
area bombardment1918
straddling1919
pattern-bombing1933
terror-bombing1933
dive-bombing1935
firebombing1935
blind-bombing1940
blitzing1940
coventrating1940
nuisance bombing1940
scatter bombing1940
coventration1942
carpet bombing1943
obliteration bombing1943
skip-bombing1943
shuttle bombing1944
atom bombing1945
atomic bombing1945
clobbering1948
loft-bombing1956
1943 Canada at War July 22/1 R.C.A.F. fliers..joined in the pursuit of the Afrika Korps, the ‘carpet bombing’ in the Tunis-Bizerte area, [etc.].
1961 Mosquito Squadron (1974) ii. 20 Mike found some factory sheds that had somehow escaped the merciless carpet bombing.
1968 L. van der Post Portrait Japan i. 29 Carpet bombing by the United States Air Forces flattened the capital.
2002 Times 26 July (T2 section) 4/3 There is mention of him being wounded and treated for shrapnel injuries during the carpet-bombing of the Tora Bora mountains in December.
2. figurative. Relentless, indiscriminate, or intense pressure or assault; persistent (publicity) campaigning; inundation. Cf. blitz n. b.
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the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun] > attack by hostile measures or words
bruntc1425
assaultc1449
battery1562
onset1566
brash1573
breach1578
onslaught1613
onfall1646
attack1653
assay?1705
to return to the charge1752
arietation1797
set-to1808
set1829
dead set1835
go-in1858
on-ding1871
hatchet work1938
blitzkrieg1939
blitz1940
carpet bombing1956
bowling1959
1956 A. H. Booth Brit. Hustings 1924–1950 vi. 127 The reality could be described as a..shuddering display of electoral carpet-bombing.
1974 W. F. Buckley in Boston Globe 24 June 21/6 Suddenly the daily carpet-bombings of the White House by the various committees and prosecutors seem to have lost the old force.
1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 23 Apr. a1 We've been under carpet bombing by lobbyists of every stripe.
1999 N.Y. Times 7 Nov. i. 33C/1 A large percentage of the unsolicited disks distributed through ‘carpet bombing’ reach individuals who do not have PCs..or who have no interest in browsing the Web.
2006 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 15 Jan. c4 Controversial and even repugnant as the ads may be, the current carpet-bombing of negativity can also be brutally effective.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1943