# assault
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /əˈsɒlt/, /əˈsɔːlt/
* (US) IPA: /əˈsɔlt/
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /əˈsɑlt/
* Audio (US):(file)
** (regional, California) IPA: /əˈsʌlt/
* Rhymes: -ɔːlt, -ɒlt, (regional, California) -ʌlt

### Noun

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: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, 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

* onfall, onrush

#### Coordinate terms

* battery

#### Derived terms

* antiassault
* apesault
* counterassault
* cyberassault
* microassault
* nonassault
* reassault
* aggravated assault
* amphibious assault ship
* assault and battery
* assault at arms
* assault course
* assault rifle
* assault weapon
* indecent assault
* meat assault
* sexual assault
* tubular assault
* verbal assault

#### Translations
### Verb

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

* assaultable
* assaultee
* assaulter
* assaultive
* microassault
* nonassaulted
* sexually assault
* unassaulted

#### Translations
### References

* “assault”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

## Middle French
### Noun

assault m (plural assauls)
* (chiefly military) assault; attack

#### Descendants

* French: assaut