assault

noun assaults

1. countable, uncountable A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc. The army made an assault on the enemy.
2. countable, uncountable A violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like She launched a written assault on the opposition party.
3. countable, uncountable An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching the person, such as by raising a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at the person and missing.
4. countable, singular, singular only, uncountable The crime whose action is such an attempt.
5. countable, uncountable An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon).
6. countable, singular, singular only, uncountable The tort whose action is such an act.
7. countable, uncountable A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

Similar: onfall, onrush, aggression, assailment, assault, attack, attempt, offense, offensive, onset, onslaught, strike · Opposite: defense, defence

verb assaults · assaulting · assaulted

1. transitive To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail. Tom was accused of assaulting another man outside a nightclub.
2. transitive To threaten or harass.