a fierce or destructive attack 猛攻;破坏性的攻击 a series of onslaughts on the citadel. 对大本营一系列的破坏性攻击。 ■a large quantity of people or things that is difficult to cope with 一大堆难以应付的人或事 the lending library market began to subside under the onslaught of cheap paperbacks. 租赁图书馆的市场由于受到廉价平装书的影响而开始衰退。
语源
early 17th cent. (also in the form anslaight): from Middle Dutch aenslag, from aen 'on' + slag 'blow'. The change in the ending was due to association with (now obsolete) slaught 'slaughter'