A barrage means an overwhelming flood or attack of something all at once. Think of standing in a goal while dozens of soccer balls fly at you from every direction: that's a barrage. When reporters shout questions at a celebrity all at the same time, that's a barrage of questions. When your inbox fills with fifty emails in five minutes, you're facing a barrage of messages.

The word originally described military artillery fire, when soldiers would fire many cannons simultaneously at an enemy position. That concentrated attack gave the word its meaning of intense, relentless bombardment. Today we use it more broadly: a teacher might face a barrage of excuses when homework isn't done, or a new video game might receive a barrage of criticism if players find too many bugs.

A barrage comes fast and feels overwhelming, like you can barely handle one thing before three more arrive. The word captures that sense of being flooded or bombarded, whether by sounds, questions, problems, or actual objects flying through the air.