different between barrage vs cacophony

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French barrage (“barrage, barrier”). Compare barrier.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bæ????/
• (US) IPA^(key): /b??????/

Noun

barrage (plural barrages)

1. An artificial obstruction, such as a dam, in a river designed to increase its depth or to divert its flow.

   Hyponym: dam

2. (military) A heavy curtain of artillery fire directed in front of one's own troops to screen and protect them.
   • 2014, Edward G. Lengel, A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, John Wiley & Sons (?ISBN), page 350:

     The 75s of V Corps fired a standard rolling barrage, while the larger 155 mm and 8-inch pieces fired standing barrages 500 meters beyond the barrage line. For the rolling barrage, one battery in each battalion fired low, bursting shrapnel instead of the standard high explosive.

3. A concentrated discharge of projectile weapons.
4. (by extension) An overwhelming outburst of words, especially of criticism.
5. (fencing) A "next hit wins" contest to determine the winner of a bout in case of a tie.
6. Type of firework containing a mixture of firework types in one single-ignition package.

Derived terms

• barrage balloon
• barrage jamming
• rolling barrage

Translations

Verb

barrage (third-person singular simple present barrages, present participle barraging, simple past and past participle barraged)

1. (transitive) To direct a barrage at.

   Synonym: bombard

Further reading

• barrage (dam) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• barrage (artillery) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

barrer +? -age

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.?a?/, /b?.?a?/

Noun

barrage m (plural barrages)

1. dam, barrage
2. barrier, roadblock

Derived terms

• faire barrage à

Further reading

• “barrage” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• bagarre, bagarré

English

Etymology

From French cacophonie, from Ancient Greek ????????? (kakoph?nía), from ????? (kakós, “bad”) + ???? (ph?n?, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k??k?f?ni/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k??k?f?ni/

Noun

cacophony (countable and uncountable, plural cacophonies)

1. A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance.
   • 1921-1922, H. P. Lovecraft, Herbert West: Reanimator,

     Not more unutterable could have been the chaos of hellish sound if the pit itself had opened to release the agony of the damned, for in one inconceivable cacophony was centered all the supernal terror and unnatural despair of animate nature.

Antonyms

• euphony
• harmony

Derived terms

• cacophonic
• cacophonous
• castrophony

Related terms

• anthropophony
• cacophonous
• dissonance
• harmony

Translations