attack

Plural: attacks

Noun

• (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
  • "the attack began at dawn"
• an offensive move in a sport or game
  • "they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning"
• intense adverse criticism
  • "the government has come under attack"
• ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation
  • "an attack on inflation"
  • "his plan of attack was misguided"
• the act of attacking
  • "attacks on women increased last year"
• a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase
• a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition
  • "an attack of diarrhea"
• the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent)
  • "the film was sensitive to attack by acids"
  • "open to attack by the elements"
• strong criticism
  • "he published an unexpected attack on my work"
• An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
• An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
• Any of several specific maneuvers, skills, or special abilities that a character can use to inflict damage against opponents.
• An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
• A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.
• The beginning of active operations on anything.
• An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
• Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
• Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
• The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
• The sudden onset of a disease or condition.
• An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
• The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
• The amount of time taken for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
• The initial sensory impact of a wine.

Verb

Verb Forms: attacked, attacking, attacks

• To take aggressive action against a place or person.
• launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with
  • "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"
• attack in speech or writing
  • "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker"
• take the initiative and go on the offensive
  • "The Serbs attacked the village at night"
  • "The visiting team started to attack"
• attack someone physically or emotionally
• set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task
  • "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed"
• begin to injure
  • "The cancer cells are attacking his liver"
  • "Rust is attacking the metal"
• To apply violent force to someone or something.
• To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
• To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
• To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
• To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
• To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
• To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
• To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
• To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
• (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.

Adj

• Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.

Examples

• Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.
• He decided to attack the triple-word score lane with his high-value letters.
• I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
• I've had an attack of the flu.
• She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.
• The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations.
• They claimed the censorship of the article was an attack on free speech.
• This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
• We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.

Synonyms

aggress, approach, assail, assault, attempt, blast, fire, flack, flak, lash out, onrush, onset, onslaught, plan of attack, round, set on, snipe, tone-beginning, abuse, attack, beat, beleaguer, bepommel, beset, besiege, bombard, charge, dust up, fall on, fall upon, hit, impugn, invade, lay into, lay siege, let someone have it, light into, onfall, overrun, pommel, pound, rush, savage, set the dogs upon, set upon, spike, storm, strike, strike at, wap, whap

Antonyms

defend, decay, release

Related Words

attach, fight, harm

Anagrams of attack