assault
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, from the verb asaillir, from Latin assiliō, from ad (“towards”) + saliō (“to jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
assault (countable and uncountable, plural assaults)
- A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
- The army made an assault on the enemy.
- 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, OCLC 645131689:
- The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault.
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book 5
- Unshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Batarians Codex entry:
- Hostilities peaked with the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on the human capital of Elysium by batarian-funded pirates and slavers. In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon of Torfan, long used as a staging base by batarian-backed criminals. In the aftermath, the batarians retreated into their own systems, and are now rarely seen in Citadel space.
- A violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like
- she launched a written assault on the opposition party
- (criminal law) 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.
- (singular only, law) The crime whose action is such an attempt.
- (tort law) An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon).
- (singular only, law) The tort whose action is such an act.
- (fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.
Synonyms[edit]
Coordinate terms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
violent onset or attack with physical means
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violent onset or attack with moral weapons
legal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
legal: crime whose action is such an attempt
legal: act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm
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legal: tort whose action is such an act
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Verb[edit]
assault (third-person singular simple present assaults, present participle assaulting, simple past and past participle assaulted)
- (transitive) To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail.
- Tom was accused of assaulting another man outside a nightclub.
- Loud music assaulted our ears as we entered the building.
- (transitive) To threaten or harass. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to attack
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References[edit]
- “assault” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Middle French[edit]
Noun[edit]
assault m (plural assauls)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sel-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Law
- English singularia tantum
- en:Fencing
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Criminal law
- en:Violence
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French masculine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- frm:Military