ATTACK • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Attack

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/ətˈæk/ Listen

noun

Attack n.

1.

The act of attacking, or falling on with force or violence; an onset; an assault; opposed to defense.

2.

An assault upon one's feelings or reputation with unfriendly or bitter words.

3.

A setting to work upon some task, etc.

4.

An access of disease; a fit of sickness.

5.

The beginning of corrosive, decomposing, or destructive action, by a chemical agent.

verb

Attack v. t. (past & past part. attacked; pres. part. attacking)

1.

To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault. "Attack their lines."

2.

To assail with unfriendly speech or writing; to begin a controversy with; to attempt to overthrow or bring into disrepute, by criticism or satire; to censure; as, to attack a man, or his opinions, in a pamphlet.

3.

To set to work upon, as upon a task or problem, or some object of labor or investigation.

4.

To begin to affect; to begin to act upon, injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste. "On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever." "Hydrofluoric acid... attacks the glass."

Synonyms: To Attack, Assail, Assault, Invade. These words all denote a violent onset; attack being the generic term, and the others specific forms of attack. To attack is to commence the onset; to assail is to make a sudden and violent attack, or to make repeated attacks; to assault (literally, to leap upon) is to attack physically by a had-to-hand approach or by unlawful and insulting violence; to invade is to enter by force on what belongs to another. Thus, a person may attack by offering violence of any kind; he may assail by means of missile weapons; he may assault by direct personal violence; a king may invade by marching an army into a country. Figuratively, we may say, men attack with argument or satire; they assail with abuse or reproaches; they may be assaulted by severe temptations; the rights of the people may be invaded by the encroachments of the crown.

Attack v. i. To make an onset or attack.

See images of 'Attack'

Etymology of 'Attack'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Attack" Quotes from Famous Books

... alcoholic party arrayed against the claims of women, as in the nature of things it always has been and always will be. It is fought on theological grounds by clerics who quote the first chapter of Genesis; and on anti-theological grounds by half-instructed rationalists who attack marriage because they suppose it ...

— Woman and Womanhood - A Search for Principles • C. W. Saleeby

... perfunctory homage of the Jesuits and the studied reserve of the Intendant Champigny, a feeling of relief thrilled Quebec. An enterprise of almost incredible difficulty was to be laid upon the shoulders of the veteran ruler. This was nothing less than an attack upon New York as a preliminary step to the overthrow of all New England. A land force was to descend on Albany, proceeding by way of the Richelieu, Lake Champlain, and the Hudson, while two frigates were to assail New York from the sea. The naval project, however, was so feeble and uncertain, ...

— Old Quebec - The Fortress of New France • Sir Gilbert Parker and Claude Glennon Bryan

... noise. Men continued to shout, and guns were being discharged, but not so frequently as before. Perhaps this latter was done by nervous guardians of the Lorraine city, who on first hearing the racket took it for granted that it meant an airplane attack, and were therefore starting in to bombard the skies, discovering hostile fliers in every lurking ...

— Air Service Boys Over The Enemy's Lines - The German Spy's Secret • Charles Amory Beach

... came home, I could no longer conceal from myself that I was in danger of a return of my last attack. I had been sitting for hours in wet clothes, with my boots full of water, and now I had to suffer for it. But as I was not to blame in the matter, and had no choice offered me whether I should be wet or dry while I sat by the dying woman, I felt no depression at the prospect of ...

— Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood • George MacDonald

... responsive than might have been looked for. A double subsidy was granted, which was expressly stated to be "not on any consideration or condition for or concerning the Palatinate." The session, however, was not far advanced when the question of patents was brought up; a determined attack was made upon the very ones of which Bacon had been in dread, and it was even proposed to proceed against the referees (Bacon and Montagu) who had certified that there was no objection to them in point of ...

— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 - "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" • Various

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