Word of the day: broadside

The word of the day is broadside:

—noun

1. the whole side of a ship above the water line, from the bow to the quarter.
2. Navy.
   1. all the guns that can be fired from one side of a warship.
   2. a simultaneous discharge of all the guns on one side of a warship.
3. any strong or comprehensive attack, as by criticism.
4. Also called broadsheet.
   1. a sheet of paper printed on one or both sides, as for distribution or posting.
   2. any printed advertising circular.
5. any broad surface or side, as of a house.
6. Also called broadside ballad. a song, chiefly in 16th- and 17th-century England, written on a topical subject, printed on broadsides, and sung in public, as on a street corner, by a professional balladeer.

1590s, "side of a ship" (technically, "the side of a ship above the water, between the bow and the quarter"), from broad + side; thus "the artillery on one side of a ship all fired off at once" (1590s, with figurative extensions). Two words until late 18c. Of things other than ships, 1630s. But oldest-recorded sense in English is "sheet of paper printed only on one side" (1570s).

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/broadside)

"The argument was over whether the human race could transform the world into paradise.  Malthus thought not, and said so at length—55,000 words, published as an unsigned broadside in 1798."

 - Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created