onslaught
noun /ˈɒnslɔːt/
/ˈɑːnslɔːt/
[countable, usually singular]- a strong or violent attack
- His approach was met with a vicious onslaught.
- onslaught against/on somebody/something the enemy onslaught on our military forces
- onslaught of something/somebody an onslaught of abuse
- (figurative) The town survives the onslaught of tourists every summer.
Extra ExamplesTopics War and conflictc2- She could not withstand such a sudden onslaught.
- She unleashed a verbal onslaught on her critics.
- the latest onslaught from the Russian team
- the relentless onslaught of modernism
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- sudden
- initial
- renewed
- …
- face
- resist
- survive
- …
- onslaught against
- onslaught on
- onslaught from
- …
Word Originearly 17th cent. (also in the form anslaight): from Middle Dutch aenslag, from aen ‘on’ + slag ‘blow’. The change in the ending was due to association with (now obsolete) slaught ‘slaughter’.