Join free

blitz

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Português · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

blitz¹

  • /blɪts/

Rhymes with -ɪts

Where it comes from

Pseudo-Germanism, derived from a clipping of blitzkrieg, from German Blitzkrieg (literally “lightning war”). The German word Blitz (“lightning”) lacks the "sudden attack" senses that the English word has.

noun blitzes

  1. countable A sudden attack, especially an air raid; usually with reference to the Blitz.
  2. countable A swift and overwhelming attack or effort. We embarked on a publicity blitz, putting posters and flyers all around town.
  3. countable A play in which additional defenders beyond the defensive linemen rush the passer.
  4. abbreviation, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of blitz chess What I had played was chess. Specially, I knocked out some 2,000 games of speed (or "blitz") chess in the two months leading up to the tournament. In fact, I played so much that I'm currently in the top half-percent of more than 1.3 million of blitz players at an online chess competition site.
  5. countable, uncountable The act of blending or puréeing food using a blender or processor.
  6. countable, uncountable An occurrence in which large numbers of fish, typically striped bass or bluefish, feed on a school of baitfish, typically one in which the occurrence can be seen from the surface.

verb blitzes · blitzing · blitzed

  1. transitive To attack quickly or suddenly, as by an air raid or similar action. So the question remains — what to do with ignorance, which I must presume is deliberate, as in this media-blitzed era it is not possible to be truly ignorant after age 12.

    Similar: charge

  2. intransitive To perform a blitz. The Washington High defense almost always blitzes on third down.
  3. transitive To purée or chop (food products) using a food processor or blender. To make nut roast, you have to blitz the nuts in the food processor before adding the parsley and breadcrumbs.

    Similar: zhoosh

  4. informal, transitive To do something quickly or in one session.

    Similar: hurry, zoom, fly, scramble, get a move on, hasten, haul, hurtle, bustle, haul ass, haul one's ashes, hie

Blitz²

  • /blɪts/

Rhymes with -ɪts

Where it comes from

Specific use of blitz. The Blitz was in truth not a blitzkrieg, which is a rapid ground offensive based on superior tank forces. However, the word was current at the time for the successful German campaigns in Poland and France, and was transferred to the attacks on Britain, perhaps by association of Blitz (“lightning”) with the bombings.

proper noun the Blitz

  1. historical The series of air raids launched on various cities in the United Kingdom by the German air force in 1940–41 during World War II.

    Similar: Baedeker raids

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: linebacker blitzing, safety blitz, attack, assault, raid, invade, demolition, clearance, flash, raiding, removal, shock, kidnapping, jiffy, action, surprise

Translations

Every language

noun swift and overwhelming attack

Españolrelámpago
DeutschBlitzkrieg
Русскийвнезапное нападение

noun American football play

Españolcarga

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"blitz." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/blitz. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

blitz. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/blitz

Chicago

"blitz." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/blitz.

BibTeX
@misc{blitz_2026,
  title = {blitz},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/blitz},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}