attack
Part of speech: verb
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: ball-games
chemistry
cricket
cycling
games
hobbies
lifestyle
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
soccer
sports
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Italian a-
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is-
Proto-Italic *dis-
Latin dis-
Old French des-
Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg-
Proto-Germanic *stikaną
Proto-West Germanic *stekander.
Old French atachier
Old French destachier
Middle French destacherbor.
Italian distaccare
Italian staccare
Italian attaccarebor.
French attaquerdeverb.
French attaquebor.
English attack
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”)).
Inflected forms:
form: attacks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attacking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: past
form: attackt
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
participle
past
form: attackt
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
past
form: attackted
pos: verb
tags: dialectal
obsolete
participle
past
form: attackted
pos: verb
tags: dialectal
obsolete
past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: attackest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: attackedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: attacks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attacketh
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: attack
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: attacking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attacked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: To apply violent force to someone or something.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
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.
gloss: To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.
It was puzzling to read a column that claimed to be attacking me, yet espoused the main ideas in my article.
In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.
gloss: To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.
gloss: To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.
I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
He filled a basin with water, and, with an old brush and piece of sandsoap, attacked the stove.
gloss: To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
pos: verb
gloss: (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.
pos: verb
tags: physical
gloss: Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: attack dog, attack ad
Synonyms: abuse
aggress
assail
assault
attack
beat
beleaguer
bepommel
beset
besiege
bombard
charge
come down on
dust up
fall on
fall upon
hit
impugn
invade
lay into
lay siege
let someone have it
light into
onfall
onset
overrun
pommel
pound
rush
set the dogs upon
set upon
storm
strike
strike at
wap
whap
Antonyms: defend
Related words: fight
harm
Derived words: attackable
unattackable
attackee
reattack
unattacked
Translations: