barrage vs sortie

barrage

noun
  • A concentrated discharge of projectile weapons. 

  • Type of firework containing a mixture of firework types in one single-ignition package. 

  • A "next hit wins" contest to determine the winner of a bout in case of a tie. 

  • A heavy curtain of artillery fire directed in front of one's own troops to screen and protect them. 

  • An artificial obstruction, such as a dam, in a river designed to increase its depth or to divert its flow. 

  • An overwhelming outburst of words, especially of criticism. 

verb
  • To direct a barrage at. 

sortie

noun
  • An attack made by troops from a besieged position; a sally. 

  • An operational flight carried out by a spacecraft involving a return to Earth. 

  • An operational flight carried out by a single military aircraft. 

  • An act of venturing out to do a task, etc. 

  • An act of trying to enter a new field of activity. 

  • An attacking move. 

  • Synonym of sally port (“an entry to or opening into a fortification to enable a sally”) 

  • A series of aerial photographs taken during the flight of an aircraft; (by extension) a photography session. 

verb
  • To carry out a sortie; to sally. 

How often have the words barrage and sortie occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )