barrage balloon

noun

1. a balloon or blimp, usually one of several anchored around a military area, city, etc., from which wires or nets are hung as a protection against attacks from low-flying aircraft.

barrage balloon

noun

1. one of a number of tethered balloons with cables or net suspended from them, used to deter low-flying air attack

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrage balloon¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

On D-Day, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, an African American unit, became the first barrage balloon battalion to land in France.

From New York Times

They would carry out a huge range of activities to aid the war effort across the UK and beyond, from providing weather reports and deploying barrage balloons, to repairing aircraft and intercepting codes and ciphers.

From BBC

They shared memories of a tense, wartime Seattle: Blackouts once a week and large barrage balloons looming above Boeing Field to catch enemy aircraft.

From Seattle Times

Trump was welcomed, instead, by a pathetic statue of him sitting trouserless on a toilet, and a childish Trump-baby shaped barrage balloon, later burst by a woman who is forbidden by law to approach water.

From The Guardian

Those were barrage balloons, floating aloft and anchored by cables, so that enemy planes had to fly over them, making their bombing more difficult.

From Seattle Times