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.
Origin: 1795–1805; < French: literally, a stretch, (continuous) pulling < Italiantirata, noun use of feminine of tirato, past participle of tirare to draw, pull, fire (a shot), of obscure origin
1801, "a 'volley of words,' " from Fr. tirade "speech, volley, shot, continuation, drawing out" (16c.), from tirer "draw out, endure, suffer," or the Fr. word is perhaps from cognate It. tirata "a volley," from pp. of tirare "to draw." The whole Romanic word group is of uncertain origin; some think
it is a shortening of the source of O.Fr. martirer "endure martyrdom" (see martyr).