Adjacent Words

Assault definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASSAULT', n. [L. assulto, of ad and salto, to leap, formed on salio, or its root. See Assail. We have the same root in insult and result.]
1. An attack or violent onset, whether by an individual, a company, or an army. An assault by private persons may be made with or without weapons. As assault by an army is a violent hostile attack; and when made upon a fort or fortified place is called a storm, as opposed to sap or siege.
2. An attack by hostile words or measures; as, an assault upon the prerogatives of a prince, or upon a constitution of government.
3. In Law, an unlawful setting upon one's person; an attempt or offer to beat another, without touching his person; as by lifting the fist or a cane, in a threatening manner. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery.
ASSAULT', v.t.
1. To attack or fall upon by violence, or with a hostile intention; as, to assault a man, a house or town.
2. To invade or fall on with force; as, the cry of war assaults our ears.
3. To attack by words, arguments or unfriendly measures, with a view to shake, impair or overthrow; as, to assault a character, the laws or the administration.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: close fighting during the culmination of a military attack
2: a threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped
3: thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946
4: the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will [syn: rape, violation, assault, ravishment] v
1: attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly" [syn: assail, assault, set on, attack]
2: force (someone) to have sex against their will; "The woman was raped on her way home at night" [syn: rape, ravish, violate, assault, dishonor, dishonour, outrage]
3: attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker" [syn: attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English assaut, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *assaltus, from assalire Date: 14th century 1. a. a violent physical or verbal attack b. a military attack usually involving direct combat with enemy forces c. a concerted effort (as to reach a goal or defeat an adversary) 2. a. a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact — compare battery 1b b. rape 2 II. verb Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to make an assault on 2. rape 2 intransitive verb to make an assault Synonyms: see attack • assaulter noun

U.S. Military Dictionary

1. The climax of an attack, closing with the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting. 2. In an amphibious operation, the period of time between the arrival of the major assault forces of the amphibious task force in the objective area and the accomplishment of the amphibious task force mission. (JP 3-02) 3. To make a short, violent, but well-ordered attack against a local objective, such as a gun emplacement, a fort, or a machine gun nest. 4. A phase of an airborne operation beginning with delivery by air of the assault echelon of the force into the objective area and extending through attack of assault objectives and consolidation of the initial airhead. See also assault phase. (JP 3-18)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a violent physical or verbal attack. 2 a Law an act that threatens physical harm to a person (whether or not actual harm is done). b euphem. an act of rape. 3 (attrib.) relating to or used in an assault ( assault craft; assault troops). 4 a vigorous start made to a lengthy or difficult task. 5 a final rush on a fortified place, esp. at the end of a prolonged attack. --v.tr. 1 make an assault on. 2 euphem. rape. Phrases and idioms: assault and battery Law a threatening act that results in physical harm done to a person. assault course an obstacle course used in training soldiers etc. Derivatives: assaulter n. assaultive adj. Etymology: ME f. OF asaut, assauter ult. f. L (salire salt- leap)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assault As*sault", n. [OE. asaut, assaut, OF. assaut, asalt, F. assaut, LL. assaltus; L. ad + saltus a leaping, a springing, salire to leap. See Assail.] 1. A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town. The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault. --Prescott. Unshaken bears the assault Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest. --Wordsworth. 2. A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government. --Clarendon. 3. (Law) An apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery. --Blackstone. Wharton. Practically, however, the word assault is used to include the battery. --Mozley & W. Syn: Attack; invasion; incursion; descent; onset; onslaught; charge; storm.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assault As*sault", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assaulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Assaulting.] [From Assault, n.: cf. OF. assaulter, LL. assaltare.] 1. To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces. Insnared, assaulted, overcome, led bound. --Milton. 2. To attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration. Before the gates, the cries of babes newborn, . . . Assault his ears. --Dryden. Note: In the latter sense, assail is more common. Syn: To attack; assail; invade; encounter; storm; charge. See Attack.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(assaults, assaulting, assaulted) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. An assault by an army is a strong attack made on an area held by the enemy. The rebels are poised for a new assault on the government garrisons... = attack N-COUNT: oft N on/upon/against n 2. Assault weapons such as rifles are intended for soldiers to use in battle rather than for purposes such as hunting. ADJ: ADJ n 3. An assault on a person is a physical attack on them. The attack is one of a series of savage sexual assaults on women in the university area... At the police station, I was charged with assault. N-VAR: oft N on/upon n 4. To assault someone means to physically attack them. The gang assaulted him with iron bars... She may have been sexually assaulted by her killer. = attack VERB: V n, V n 5. An assault on someone's beliefs is a strong criticism of them. He leveled a verbal assault against his Democratic opponents. N-COUNT: oft N on/upon/against n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-solt' (tsur; horme): The Hebrew verbal form is used of pressing forward a siege (see SIEGE), but also of a hostile attack upon a person then translated "assault" (Es 8:11). The Greek word horme used of an attack upon persons in Ac 14:5 (the King James Version) is rendered "onset" in the Revised Version (British and American). The word "assault" remains in Ac 17:5, of attacking the house of Jason in Thessalonica, where the verb is ephistanai, "to come suddenly upon."

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Attack, onset, onslaught, aggression, invasion, charge, thrust, assailing with blow, threatening with blows. 2. Storming, storm. II. v. a. Assail, attack, invade, charge, storm, fall upon, fly at, bear down upon, make aggression on, assail with blows, threaten with blows.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, aggravated assault, aggression, ambush, amphibious attack, armed assault, assail, assailing, assailment, attack, banzai attack, barbarize, batter, battering, battery, bear, bear upon, beat up, beating, berating, beset, bitter words, blackening, blitz, blitzkrieg, boost, breakthrough, bruise, brutalize, buck, bull, bulldoze, bump, bump against, bunt, burn, bushwhack, butcher, butchery, butt, butt against, carry on, censure, charge, citation, come at, come down on, contumely, counterattack, counteroffensive, coup de main, crack down on, cram, crippling attack, crowd, dead set at, descend on, descend upon, descent on, destroy, diatribe, dig, disorderliness, diversion, diversionary attack, drive, elbow, execration, fall on, fall upon, flank attack, force, forcible seizure, frontal attack, gang up on, gas attack, go at, go for, go on, goad, hammer, hard words, harm, harry, have at, head-on attack, hit, hit like lightning, hold-up, hurtle, hustle, implication, impugnment, incrimination, inculpation, incursion, infiltration, invasion, invective, involvement, jab, jam, jawing, jeremiad, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, jump, killing, land on, lay at, lay hands on, lay into, lay waste, laying waste, light into, lightning attack, lightning war, loot, looting, mass attack, massacre, maul, megadeath, molest, molestation, mug, mugging, nudge, obstreperousness, offense, offensive, onset, onslaught, overkill, panzer warfare, philippic, pile drive, pillage, pillaging, pitch into, poke, pounce upon, pound, press, prod, punch, push, rage, raid, ram, ram down, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, rating, rattle, rave, revilement, riot, rioting, roar, ruin, run, run against, run at, rush, sack, sacking, sail into, sally, savage, screed, set on, set upon, shake, shock tactics, shoulder, shove, slaughter, smite, sortie, sow chaos, sowing with salt, storm, stress, strike, surprise, swoop down on, take the offensive, tamp, tear, tear around, terrorize, thrust, tirade, tongue-lashing, unprovoked assault, unruliness, vandalize, vilification, violate, violation, vituperation, wade into, wreck