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Glite Dictionary
🌊 To surge forward ⚡ A sudden attack
onrush

onrush

1 6.3
A sudden strong forward movement like an attack by soldiers
  • noun
  • /ˈɑnˌrʌʃ/
translation icon : embestida
  • The soldiers prepared for the onrush of enemy forces at dawn.
  • a sudden onrush
  • onrush of water

So the tangled crosshatch of staples testifies to a sort of unarchive an onrush of uncollected notes that stands in contrast to the stolid pole.

Examples

  • Its shell is the windowless ruin of an abandoned warehouse, whose builders, it would seem, forgot to allow for the sudden onrush of melting snow, which would each spring descend upon it with the force of an avalanche.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Hume, feeling the onrush of drug effects, looks over to Allison...

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I can only assume that she thought a posted apology and private calls would stop the onrush of negative comments, but it did not.

    Blog text (12)

  • Only in bed with Mrs. Burnham had he felt such a fierce onrush of passion.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The onrush of technology has created the demand for bigger, better video boards and more ribbon boards for stats and advertisers.

    Blog text (32)

  • An injection of amphetamine following an intravenous barbiturate is said to provoke a striking onrush of talking and activity from psychiatric patients.

    Blog text (32)

  • The sudden onrush of the floodwaters caught the townspeople by surprise.

  • We were amazed by the onrush of tourists during the summer festival.

Synonyms

onslaught
vsonrush
30 7.6

A sudden violent attack, often by soldiers or severe weather

is a sudden powerful forward movement that may be less violent
surgency
vsonrush
8.5

A sudden strong movement or increase

is a sudden powerful forward movement or attack rather than emotion

Antonyms

retreat
93 4.4

A move back from a place to escape danger

How Forceful

onslaught
30 7.6
onrush
1 6.3
surge
143 4.2
movement
696 1.5

Surface Forms

onrush singular
onrushes plural

Morphology

onrush = rush (transparent) = on + rush

The meaning 'sudden forward movement' is directly derived from 'on' (onward/forward) + 'rush'.

Etymology

Onrush is a simple combination of on- ('toward' or 'forward') and rush ('move quickly'), so picture a sudden forward push like a wave or an attack. That's why an onrush means a sudden, powerful forward movement or attack.