onslaught
/ˈɒn.slɔːt/ noun
Forms onslaughts anslaight
- noun A fierce attack.
- noun (by extension) A large number of people or things resembling an attack. “They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.”
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An attack; an onset; esp., a furious or murderous attack or assault.
- noun A bloody fray or battle. [Scot.] Jamieson.
Etymology [OE. on on + slaught, slaht, slaughter. See Slaughter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “onslaught”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details