Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Attack   /ətˈæk/   Listen
Attack

noun
1.
(military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons).  Synonyms: onrush, onset, onslaught.
2.
An offensive move in a sport or game.
3.
Intense adverse criticism.  Synonyms: blast, fire, flack, flak.  "The government has come under attack" , "Don't give me any flak"
4.
Ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation.  Synonyms: approach, plan of attack.  "An attack on inflation" , "His plan of attack was misguided"
5.
The act of attacking.  Synonym: attempt.  "They made an attempt on his life"
6.
A decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase.  Synonym: tone-beginning.
7.
A sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition.
8.
The onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent).  "Open to attack by the elements"
9.
Strong criticism.
verb
(past & past part. attacked; pres. part. attacking)
1.
Launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with.  Synonym: assail.  "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week"  Antonym: defend.
2.
Attack in speech or writing.  Synonyms: assail, assault, lash out, round, snipe.
3.
Take the initiative and go on the offensive.  Synonym: aggress.  "The visiting team started to attack"
4.
Attack someone physically or emotionally.  Synonyms: assail, assault, set on.  "Nightmares assailed him regularly"
5.
Set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task.
6.
Begin to injure.  "Rust is attacking the metal"



Related searches:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar





"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


More quotes...



Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com