attack
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈtæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: attacks
form: attacking
form: attacked
form: attacked
form: attackt
form: attackt
form: attackted
form: attackted
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: attack
form: attack
form: attacked
form: attack
form: attackest
form: attacked
form: attackedst
form: attacks
form: attacketh
form: attacked
form: attack
form: attacked
form: attack
form: attacked
form: attack
form: -
form: attacking
form: attacked
Etymology: Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakkijan (“to stick, stick to, attach”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Middle English onresen, from Old English onrǣsan (“to attack”); and Middle English resinge (“an assault, attack”) (compare Old English onrǣs (“an attack”)).
Senses: examples: text: This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
text: Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
ref: 1941 December 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 0:00 from the start, in Day of Infamy Speech, Washington, D.C., page 1:
synonyms: savage
glosses: To apply violent force to someone or something.
examples: text: She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.
text: It was puzzling to read a column that claimed to be attacking me, yet espoused the main ideas in my article.
ref: 1988 December 11, John D'Emilio, “Enemies, Anger, and Militance”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 22, page 5:
text: In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.
ref: 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in The A.V. Club, Fusion Media Group:
glosses: To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
examples: text: On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
text: Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.
ref: 1866, Balfour Stewart, An Elementary Treatise on Heat:
glosses: To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
examples: text: We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.
text: I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
text: He filled a basin with water, and, with an old brush and piece of sandsoap, attacked the stove.
ref: 1922, Joseph Hergesheimer, Mountain Blood:
glosses: To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
examples: text: Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.
ref: 2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC Sport:
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
topics: cycling
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.
Synonyms: word: abuse
word: aggress
word: assail
word: assault
word: attack
word: beat
word: beleaguer
word: bepommel
word: beset
word: besiege
word: bombard
word: charge
word: dust up
word: fall on
word: fall upon
word: hit
word: impugn
word: invade
word: lay into
word: lay siege
word: let someone have it
word: light into
word: onfall
word: onset
word: overrun
word: pommel
word: pound
word: rush
word: set the dogs upon
word: set upon
word: storm
word: strike
word: strike at
word: wap
word: whap
Hyponyms: word: bomb
word: cut
word: punch down
word: shoot
word: stab
word: ambush
word: jump
word: pounce
word: surprisal
word: defame
word: revile
Derived terms: attackable
attackee
reattack
unattackable
unattacked
Related terms: word: fight
word: harm