mitraillade

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French mitraillade.

Noun

mitraillade (plural mitraillades)

1. (rare, chiefly historical) Mass execution by cannon shot or (later) machine-gun, especially during the French Revolution.
   • 1817, John James M’Gregor, History of the French Revolution, volume III:

     The fusillades and mitraillades were conducted with the most savage coolness.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 487:

     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.

Related terms

• mitraille
• mitrailleur
• mitrailleuse

French

Etymology

From mitraill(er) +‎ -ade.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.tʁa.jad/ ~ /mi.tʁɑ.jad/

Noun

mitraillade f (plural mitraillades)

1. machine-gunning

Further reading

• “mitraillade”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.