ASSAULT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Assault

/əsˈɔlt/ Listen

Assault

noun

1.

Close fighting during the culmination of a military attack.

2.

A threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped.

3.

Thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946.

4.

The crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will. Synonyms: rape, ravishment, violation.

verb

(past & past part. assaulted; pres. part. assaulting)

1.

Attack someone physically or emotionally. Synonyms: assail, attack, set on. "Nightmares assailed him regularly"

2.

Force (someone) to have sex against their will. Synonyms: dishonor, dishonour, outrage, rape, ravish, violate.

3.

Attack in speech or writing. Synonyms: assail, attack, lash out, round, snipe.

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Etymology of 'Assault'

Related searches:

assault and battery

aggravated assault

amphibious assault

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Assault" Quotes from Famous Books

... situation a while, then it seemed to dawn on him that he was the victim of a practical joke. All at once he jumped on the Chief's hand, buried his teeth in his thumb, then hopped to a lumber pile and waited for developments. He got the nuts, jar and all, right at his head. He side-stepped the assault and gloated over his store of pinons the rest of ...

— I Married a Ranger • Dama Margaret Smith

... the average worker I do not know; of course such action was precisely the action which those most interested in having the law broken down were anxious to see taken. The Court of Appeals declared the law unconstitutional, and in their decision the judges reprobated the law as an assault upon the "hallowed" influences of "home." It was this case which first waked me to a dim and partial understanding of the fact that the courts were not necessarily the best judges of what should be done to better social and industrial conditions. The judges who rendered this decision were well-meaning ...

— Theodore Roosevelt - An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt • Theodore Roosevelt

... eloquence, the augustness of the assembly is lost in the dignity of the orator; and the importance of the subject, for awhile, superseded by the admiration of his talents. With what strength of argument, with what powers of the fancy, with what emotions of the heart, does he assault and subjugate the whole man; and, at once, captivate his reason, his imagination, and his passions! To effect this must be the utmost effort of the most improved state of human nature,—not a faculty that he possesses is here unemployed; not a faculty that he possesses but is here exerted to ...

— The American Union Speaker • John D. Philbrick

... his final assault on the Temple. The Zealots were gathered in the innermost court, frantically beseeching Heaven for a sign; the walls, the outer approaches of the Sanctuary were choked with the dying and the dead. David ...

— The History of David Grieve • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... that they were betrayed. At this time some of the Spaniards threatened Mr Foster with their daggers in a furious manner, as if they would have slain him, yet they had no such purpose, meaning only to have taken him and his men prisoners. Mr Foster and his men were amazed at this sudden assault, and were greatly concerned to think themselves ready to be put to death; yet some of them, much concerned for their own and Mr Fosters danger, and believing themselves doomed to death if landed ...

— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VII • Robert Kerr

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