mitraillade
nounEtymology Borrowed from French mitraillade.
1
Historical, Rare Mass execution by cannon shot or (later) machine-gun, especially during the French Revolution.
- The fusillades and mitraillades were conducted with the most savage coolness.1817, John James M’Gregor, History of the French Revolution, volume III:
- when Collot d'Herbois and Fouché replaced him, a veritable frenzy of repression occurred, with opponents being gunned down into open graves in the so-called mitraillades.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 487:
- Related terms
- mitraille, mitrailleur, mitrailleuse