/tuy"rayd, tuy rayd"/ , n.
1. a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation: a tirade against smoking.
2. a long, vehement speech: a tirade in the Senate.
3. a passage dealing with a single theme or idea, as in poetry: the stately tirades of Corneille.
[ 1795-1805; tirata, n. use of fem. of tirato, ptp. of tirare to draw, pull, fire (a shot), of obscure orig. ]
Syn. 2. harangue, diatribe.