onslaught
nounUK /ˈɒn.slɔːt/ · AU, UK /ˈɔnsloːt/
Etymology From on- + slaught. Formed after Middle Dutch aenslag, aenslach, equivalent to aen + slag, although slaught corresponds to Middle Dutch slacht; slag is cognate with the English weaving term sley. Compare Dutch aanslag and German Anschlag.
1
A fierce attack.
2
Broadly A large number of people or things resembling an attack.
- They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.
- The inevitable Baggies onslaught followed as substitute Simon Cox saw his strike excellently parried by keeper Bunn, with Cox heading the rebound down into the ground and agonisingly over the bar.2010 December 28, Kevin Darling, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC:
- Derived terms
- onslaughter
- Related terms
- slew