assault

Meanings

Noun

• A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
• A violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like
• An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching the person, such as by raising a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at the person and missing.
• The crime whose action is such an attempt.
• An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm.
• The tort whose action is such an act.
• A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

Verb

• To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail.
• To threaten or harass.

Related

Similar words

• onfall, onrush

Origin

• From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, from the verb asaillir, from Latin assiliō, from ad + saliō. See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.