barrage

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of barring; specifically, the formation of an artificial obstruction in a watercourse, in order to increase the depth of the water, to facilitate irrigation, and for other purposes.
• noun The artificial bar thus formed; especially, one of those on the river Nile in Egypt.
• noun In playing instruments like the guitar, the application of the finger of the left hand across all or some of the strings near the nut, so as to shorten them uniformly and thus raise their pitch; a temporary nut. (See nut, 3. and capo tasto.) When the finger stops part of the strings the barrage is little; if all, great or grand.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Engin.) An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or watercourse to increase the depth of water.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun an artificial obstruction, such as a dam, in a river designed to increase its depth or to divert its flow
• noun a heavy curtain of artillery fire directed in front of one's own troops to screen and protect them (Wikipedia)
• noun a concentrated discharge of projectile weapons
• noun by extension an overwhelming outburst of words, especially of criticism
• noun fencing A "next hit wins" contest to determine the winner of a bout in case of a tie.
• verb transitive to direct a barrage at; to bombard

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written)
• verb address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage
• noun the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target