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Definition 2024


bombard_phrase

bombard phrase

See also: bombard-phrase

English

Alternative forms

Noun

bombard phrase (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) Inflated language; bombast.
    • 1857, Ben Jonson (author), William Gifford (editor), "Translations from the Latin Poets" in The Works of Ben Jonson, p. 853 (Google preview):
      . . . Their bombard-phrase, and foot and half-foot words . . .
    • 1881 Nov. 12, "Notes on Books: French Dramatists of the Nineteenth Century" in Notes and Queries, series 6, vol. 4, p. 400 (Google preview):
      To the inveterate Hugolater it is probable that his estimate of the author of Les Miserables as a dramatist will seem inadequate; but it is noteworthy that the poverty of Hugo's personages as actual characters, despite their "bombard phrase," receives striking confirmation from one of the greatest of modern French actors.